An Old Love
by Flusion
Summary: A tale of a dragon, a tactician, and all that they experience in their war torn lives.
1. Torture

Chapter 1

 **Some Disclaimation: I do not own Fire Emblem, nor it's characters or other properties.**

"Hey let go of me! I said let go it hurts," Nowi shouted at her captors. She was, of course, speaking to the Plegian men currently dragging her chained self onto a stone altar. It was a massive and wide pedestal, unnecessarily so for it's purpose. She knew that they were going to kill her as a sacrifice, but she didn't know what exactly they were going to do to her. She didn't believe it would be a swift death. She only knew that it would be death.

There was sand in her eyes and under her nails. There was sand everywhere and it was just making everything so much worse. Her arms were tightly bound in metal shackles and bands to hold her in place. Exposed for all the revelers to see was her bare and naked skin; bruised horribly from multiple beatings that nobody had healed. Her tiny ancient body had been abused for days, and weeks, and months, and years. Gods she couldn't remember how long it had been. Now she was here at the altar and it was it. Her final breath was so near she could see it coming for her. She was at the execution table of a cult as old as her.

She was crying from the sand, and they forced her to her knees on the pedestal. The over sized execution table was rife with strangely colored etchings and odd shapes. They were all symbols of the cult. In front of her vulnerable self was a cloaked and covered man bearing a wicked knife. It was long and sharp. It zigged and zagged in a manner that reminded her of lighting.

Nowi didn't know what exactly a sacrifice to Grima entailed. She had no idea what they were going to do to her. It was her death but would it be quick or would it be torture. The two Grimleal faithful who had brought her to the pedestal turned her around so that he back was facing the crowd. She immediately knew what was about to happen. This wasn't going to be any kind of quick death.

Her captors pulled her arms from her sides and forced them to be swing up like wings. This gave the man with the knife a much larger canvas with which to do his work. She couldn't see what he was doing but she felt the sharp tip of the blade start at the outer part of her wrist. He forced it into her arm and drug the blade slowly up to her shoulder and back over creating a bloody line across her arm span.

The Grimleal reveled in her cries. Some began to cut themselves and offer blood to their dark god. The ground was wet with the red life of many. There were shouts and screams as they all went wild.

The cloaked man moved directly to her back and started his work.

Gregor didn't know that he was working for the Grimleal until he saw them dragging the young girl from her cell. It brought shame to him, but he couldn't afford to wallow in it if he wanted to save her. It was a time for action.

It was into action that he sprung, and immediately killed a nearby faithful who had yet to gather for the revelry. He was a man who Gregor knew to carry a key that he would need for his deed. After he gathered the key that he needed he had the grab just a few more things. A small list. Things for the just-in-cases that he knew were bound to happen.

When he was completely prepared for it, Gregor snuck close to the alter and quietly cursed. They had already started the ceremony. His just-in-case preparation would do him well. Medicine to try and heal what they were doing to her. Bandages and wrappings to stop the bleeding of all the cuts. He was no cleric and had no magical talents whatsoever. All he could call upon was his natural skills from the years of mercenary work.

Gregor charged into them interrupting the reveling worshipers. He knocked the man with a knife away and even across the table and into the crowd, so strong was the force of his blow. Then he dispatched the other two cultists and grabbed the blood covered little girl.

He sprinted off of the table and ran into the desert holding the still conscious and very weak girl with him. He would need to make great distance in a short amount of time in order to escape the Grimleal. It would take them a short while to organize, but if he wasn't far enough away they would overtake him.

After over an hour of moving, Gregor found a spot shaded by a rock were he could tend to the girl in safety. It was out of the wind and out of sight. Here he removed her chains as well as cleaned and dressed the prideful girl's wounds. She was far to stubborn to fall unconscious and she attempted to struggle away from him even in her delirium. She was far too weak though, which Gregor was grateful for.

When he was finished her exposed body was clothed in bandages. Her upper body at least. In the essence of being quick he had only grabbed a small pair of pants which he though might fight her smaller frame. Needless to say they were far to large still, but she was much more modest than before.

For the next while he carried her in his arms. She was quite heavy for her size though he did know why. Soon she was not only conscious but aware. She was still too weak to struggle like he knew she would, but she was now complaining and crying.

As they walked Gregor finally decided to give her the special keepsake she would need in order to fully recover. From a pouch on his pocket he pulled a small, green, palm sized stone. It shone with a weak light as he brought it up to the little girl.

"Here Wee One. Is stone of the dragons no. You can use it. Gregor gave it to Gregor for safety keeping. Is no use to me, but you need it no?" Gregor said.

Needless to say. She swiped it from his grasp before he could even blink.

With the small girl in his arms, the old mercenary Gregor laughed harder than he had in a long time.

 ** _Some Days Later_**

About a stone's throw away from him, Robin could see a small commotion going about. He was standing with Chrom and Lissa surveying the field of their soon to be battlefield. A team of brigands and cloaked individuals was moving rapidly in their direction, or so his intelligence team had told him. This large space was a location he had picked out for the battle. He would wait for them to reach here so they could do battle on even ground.

It appeared to him that it was a young girl being chased by a man with a sword. As they watched as the man caught up to her and grabbed her by the wrist.

Next to him, Chrom sprung into action unable to control himself in such a situation.

"Hey! You there! Fiend! Keep your hands away from that young maiden!" he was shouting, even as he moved towards the older man in a threatening manner.

Lissa followed Chrom forward, yet Robin stayed back to let them handle the situation. From his position he could not hear what they were saying very well. He _could_ see however, that the older man was extremely expressive with his hands. Over the course of his conversation with Chrom there were many face palms and exaggerated throws of his arms into the air. Next to their conversation the young girl was crying harder and seemed to shrink in on herself more and more.

Suddenly a team of brigands came out of nowhere and attacked the group. Robin, realizing the danger, charged forward with his tome. As he ran forward he cast a spell on the fly, but it died on his lips in amazement.

One of the Brigands had grabbed onto the young girl. Needless to say he made a big mistake, and his mistake led to the surprise of everyone present.

"Don't touch me," she screamed, clutching at her chest harder and a powerful glow shot out from in between her fingers. Her body was enveloped into a cocoon of flower petals and light before exploding outward leaving flower petals floating everywhere. In the place of the girl floated a golden dragon, whom proceeded to tear the man who had grabbed onto her apart.

Robin was surprised beyond all doubt. Never before in his short memory had he seen anything as brutally fascinating as the magnificent creature before him now. Near him Chrom seemed to be surprised but not truly shocked or confused.

"A manakete," Chrom said, "That is certainly unusual, and completely unexpected, though not unhelpful."

Then, a cloaked man approached from a distance. He was scrawny and hunched over in a frail way, though he gave off a horrendous and creepy vibe.

"Haha there you are you scrawny scamp. Be prepared for a dose of Grima's wrath for your nature," the man said.

Then, with a snap of his fingers, he disappeared behind a crowd of charging warriors and magicians.

Robin looked at the two new faces, but before he could speak the older man took his turn.

"Name is Gregor," Gregor said, "Very swell sword. Will fight for you today."

Robin looked at Chrom, giving him a questioning look. With which Chrom responded to with a thumbs-up and a wink.

The dragon had since reverted back to the form of a petite young girl. She was still wiping tears from her eyes when she likewise spoke before Robin could ask.

"I-i'm Nowi. Thank you for saving me," she sniffed, " I'd like to help take out those baddies too if you might let me." she gave him a look that gave him almost no room to tell her no.

Nowi was peculiar looking to say the least. She had long pointed ears and yellow-green hair. When she spoke he noticed that she had fangs, or rather, two larger canines. On top of her odd natural appearance, her entire upper body was covered in bandages. Her hands. All the way up her arms. The wrapping extended from her neck down her torso and ended at her waist were she wore a too large pair of pants.

He made a note to have Lissa take a look at her after the battle was finished.

Instead of outright rejecting the child in front of him, dragon or not, Robin got down onto one knee. On one knee he was a little bit shorter than her, but still at a much better height with which to speak to her. He didn't intend to allow someone who was injured to enter the field of battle, let alone a child.

"Of course you can help, Nowi. You can go back there and help defend the back lines with a knight called Kellam. You can help him protect the supply convey," Robin said.

In front of him Nowi puffed out her cheeks in what was probably supposed be an expression of anger, but her expression went completely unnoticed by Robin. Behind him he could hear Chrom snorting, and Gregor burst into outright laughter.

"Robin come here a minute," Chrom said, as he laughed.

Robin obliged and approached Chrom after standing up and dusting off his knee.

"What?" Robin said.

"She's a manakete," Chrom replied, " do you know what a manakete is?"

At the shake of his head, Chrom continued.

"Manaketes are an ancient race predating even humans in terms of history. They can live to incredible ages, and you might even call them immortal. She could be hundreds or even thousands of years old," he whispered.

"Oh," Robin replied. Then his face deepened to a shade of deep red, "Oooh."

Chrom patted him on the shoulder, and behind him Lissa started a conversation with Nowi.

"So how old are you even?" she said.

Nowi responded, "Uh I don't know. A thousand something?"

Frederick approached from the direction of the battle that had been taking place ahead of them. He looked no worse for wear. Not a drop of sweat covered his face, and nary a dent blemished his armor.

"Good news sire, Robin's plan went exactly as predicted and the last of the Grimleal have been ousted. I dare say Robin doesn't even need his own self in order to conduct his plans. Things went completely perfect, and the enemy acted exactly as Robin predicted," Frederick reported.

"Good. Excellent even. Terribly sorry we couldn't enter into the fight but a little something came up and kept us busy. Nevertheless we made some new friends and a couple of new recruits to boot," Chrom said.

Robin turned around to see Frederick giving the two new ones his classic "Frederick the wary" stare down.

"Do not be deceived, Frederick, the little one is a manakete," Robin warned.

"So she is,"he commented.

 ** _Later that Evening_**

Robin sat down on his cot after a several hour series of paperwork and logistical things that were ordinary of his position. Many people would misplace their things, for example, and he had to find and or reissue a tent to some poor soldier. He had to organize the army for the night and set up the city of tents it would entail. None of what he did was physical activity, just completely mentally exhausting.

He was doing the full job of a quartermaster along with his job as a tactician. He was pulling the weight of no less than three men, and he could only add it all up to personality. He just got put in charge of everything. Because of his busy work load he had no rest.

As he sat down for the final time that night, it was well past midnight and the tent city was still very much active. There was no foreseeable battle in the future for at least a month and the whole of the army was making use of their time to stay awake late and drink themselves to sleep. The tent city had an economy in its own right after all, and it was full of any amenity a soldier might want.

For the night, his job was done and his brain hurt so he was going to sleep, or he would have if a thought had not made itself present in his head. He sighed as he stood up and mentally prepared himself for a session of self humbling. He still had one bit of business left undone, and he'd rather not have grievances among the shepherds if he could help it.

Robin stepped out of his tent, located in the shepherd location of the military city and immediately had to dodge Vaike, who was walking alongside Virion while in conversation.

"Sup Rob."

"Ah Sir Robin."

Robin responded to their greeting in turn, "Good night gentlemen. Have you, perchance, encountered Nowi tonight?"

"Hmm? Ah yes the young and spritely manakete recruit. Yes, I believe you had her room with Panne as a temporary arrangement. She can probably be found over by her new tent yes?" Virion replied.

Robin nodded, "I appreciate it Virion."

Robin continued on his way, going off in the opposite direction of the other pair, though he could still hear some of their conversation.

"No no Vaike. I do not believe you have managed to develop a finer taste yet. You seem to still be focused on the size of things. Look at the whole picture..."

What where they talking about? Well Robin supposed it didn't matter to him what their business was. Or rather, he didn't really want to know what kind of business they were going on about.

It was a short walk to Panne's tent, which was on the edge of the shepherd's site. Just as he was about to knock on a wooden pole supporting the tent, Panne stepped out looking quite irritated and whispered to him.

"She's all yours man-spawn. Please deal with her. Please," Panne the taguel growled, before stalking off.

Robin sighed as he stepped into the tent. Inside Nowi was seated on her cot looking at him with a great big smile on her face. She looked to be the completely carefree child she looked like, but he now knew that she was no child, and in fact, was far more experienced in the ways of the world than him.

"Nowi I came over to apologize to you for my behavior earlier today. I have never met a manakete before, and was unaware of them until meeting you. I apologize for treating you in such a rude manner and I accept what you may have of me. Within reason of course. Please within reason," Robin said, lowering his head in her presence.

"No way Robin. I thought you were a serious person given your position, but you came to me saying some silly things. It's okay. There wasn't any sorta harm done after all, was there. Well except to your ego, but we can fix that. And well I guess to the enemy soldiers, but we can't fix that I guess..." Nowi said with a twinkling tone, "No no you don't owe me a thing. It happens a lot to me, or, it kind of used to? Idoknow?"

Robin smiled at her, "Well I'm glad I cleared that up. I didn't want to leave things as they are when you could have been seriously offended by my words. They were a little mean after all. Well if it's okay then I'm going to go to bed. I'm a bit sleepy after today."

Robin left the tent and made way to his own living space, giving tired waves to the others that he passed on his way. Once he was in his tent he fell to his cot and fell asleep.

Some hours into the night, however, his sleep was interrupted by someone.

"Robin," she whispered, completely swaddled in a blanket, "are you awake? Panne kicked me out of the tent, and it's cold out. Could I sleep in here?"

"Huh? Sshure you can just throw your cot down somewhere and..." Robin trailed off sleepily, "Don't make a mess."

"Thank you" the cheerful voice said to him as he fell back into sleep.

"Robin," Lissa called to him in a gentle manner, "It's time to get up. There's a surprise for you," she giggled quietly.

Robin woke up in a rather powerful stupor that morning. He woke up to Lissa gently prodding him awake. She was usually rather loud and rambunctious about getting him out of his cot in the mornings; a habit that she had picked up in the early days of their campaign. He was far too sleepy, however, to be suspicious of one of her pranks

He woke up feeling warm, with a rather hefty weight around his middle. Something was wrapped around his midsection, and it was quite heavy. It was a warm weight though, not entirely uncomfortable, just somewhat unfamiliar. It was a feeling he was unaccustomed to.

Slowly as he woke up he removed his heavy blanket from about his person to reveal the petite manakete girl Nowi wrapped around his middle. Above him Lissa was now giggling and giving a mischievous smirk all at the same time.

"Well well well, what do we have here. Robin it would seem like you acquired yourself a partner for the night," Lissa gave him a sly smirk, "You devil. How'd this happen?"

"What?" Robin said confused. He looked down at his middle and noticed Nowi attached to him. Then it hit him, "Naga help me," he sighed, "Nowi get up it's morning why are you sleeping on me?"

His voice was all slurred from sleep, yet his brain was awake enough to comprehend what was happening. He knew he was into some kind of deep trouble.

Robin threw his arms back in a stretch as Nowi began to wake up and tried to do the same, except she somehow managed to have gotten her arm under his body and was completely pinned under his superior size. Robin, seeing this, lifted himself up enough to free her, and earned himself an appreciative look for his efforts.

"Lissa I wish I could explain to you, or give you some kind of excuse, but I have none. I don't know why Nowi is in my room, or why she was sleeping with me," Robin said slowly.

"Whuh?" Nowi exclaimed, "Whuh is th' time?"

Lissa smiled at the sleepy Nowi, "Oh it's early morning. About the time I get Robin up every day. I didn't expect to find you in here though."

"Oh... well Panne kicked me out lass' night for some reason. Maybe my scent idoknow. It was cold outside so I slep' in Robin's tent."

"Mhmm I see, well that certainly makes sense, other than the fact that there are plenty of women here who would happily take you as a guest in their tent," Lissa said.

"Actually Lissa, Panne was the only woman who didn't have a full tent. Everyone else was sharing and full of stuff."

"Well better you than Vaike I suppose. It doesn't appear that anything happened and well, you're both adults I guess. I was just hoping for some juicy bits of gossip and rumors to start," she covered her mouth with her hand.

Many people thought of Lissa as a rather cute and sweet young lady. To many she appeared delicate and dainty as a flower. If Robin had looked at her from some distance away he might have believed that, but he had the unfortunate fate to have met the other side of the princess. It was the fun little side that the common folk did not ever get to see. He dared to think many employed in the castle who were around her regularly didn't actually know about her less innocent side. She would put a frog down his pants and then turn around and give an adorable wave to someone behind her as Robin would dance around trying to save himself.

Now this crafty little princess in front of him had blackmail material, and all he could do was shrug and hope for the best.

"Alright get out of here Lissa I'm gonna get ready for the day so please don't bother me," Robin said, "You should go and see if someone needs medical help or something."

"Hmm sure, but are you gonna get ready with her in the tent too," Lissa pointed at Nowi who was still looking around sleepily.

"Figuring out what to do with her is going to be a part of me getting ready," he answered her.

As Lissa left Nowi spoke up up, "You know I'm sleepy still, but I can hear you right? You don't need to talk like I'm not here."

Nowi pulled a fine comb from somewhere on her person, Robin wasn't sure where it came from, and began to remove any bits of dirt and knots from her hair.

"Yeah well I'll step out and give you a bit of privacy to get ready. I'll go grab some food or something while I wait my turn. Do you want something?" Robin said. He left it to his care-filled nature to do his job for him.

"Yeah sure get me an apple or something I'm not that hungry," she replied.

He was going to do what she asked, but that didn't mean he believed her. Yesterday during the battle he could clearly see her ribs, given her choice of clothing. She was obviously underfed, perhaps even starving. He would figure it out in time after all. That was his third job. It was an unofficial position and not always an appreciated one. He was going to figure out what kept her from asking for more food even though she was most definitely famished.

He had to cross the campsite in order to get to the mess hall and grab some food. He normally didn't eat at the hall, but the shepherds were used to him popping in to grab food in the mornings. He didn't always eat the mess food, and in fact preferred to stay in his tent and study strategy. Most of the time he either went without food or ate ration "snacks" Gaius had started to provide for him. It wasn't a free service the thief provided but it was worth it in order to get more time at his books to think up new possible ways that they could fail so he could correct those errors.

In the mess tent Chrom almost always sat near the entrance with Frederick and Lissa. Whenever Robin went to the mess tent he would walk passed them and give some typical greeting. Then, Chrom would invite him to eat with them which he rarely accepted. Frederick "The Wary" was still somewhat suspicious of him after all.

This morning in particular Chrom looked quite excited to see him. The young man's eyes lit up at the sight of Robin.

"Good morning Robin. What brings you to the mess tent the day after a battle?" Chrom said.

Robin sighed, "Uh well, Nowi didn't really have a place to sleep last night, so now she's taken over my tent. I went to grab a little food for her."

Chrom laughed, hard. His laugh was a hearty one. Lissa whipped her arm and made a tssshhhh sound, before giving him a discrete grin. Frederick glared.

"Yeah well that's your job to sort out I suppose is it not. Maybe you can go talk to Cordelia or something. She's memorized every little bit of stock we have after all. She may be able to find a tent for our dear manakete friend. Why didn't you just room her with Panne though? I here she is the only one in her tent."

"Yeah well Panne kicked her out real fast apparently. Maybe taguel and manakete don't get along? I should look into it. Maybe ask Miriel. She seems to know a lot. Or I could just straight up question Panne. Who knows?" He said in a thinking manner.

"Yeah well you better get some food and take it to that little wifey-poo of yours before she gets hungry," Lissa giggled.

Robin sighed and got in line at the hall. Maribelle was serving the food that morning so it was bound to be some fanciful dish, and he wouldn't mind a cup of rousing tea right about then. Something to really perk him up for the day. Marching wasn't exactly his favorite thing, and being tactician granted him no special favors, or rather, he couldn't ride a horse, and didn't have the time to learn. He was sure that it was not particularly simple learn to control one, but he definitely would not be going into battle on a war horse anytime soon.

There weren't any apples at the table, as Maribelle had neglected to put such a simple fruit in her arsenal. There were; however, oranges. He was certain Nowi wouldn't be too picky about what fruit he brought her. Hopefully.

Robin stuffed some toasted bread and sausages into his mouth and grabbed a large mug normally used for alcohol and filled it with tea. He would drink it on the way. It was steaming and warm and chock full of goodness.

He sipped the hot drink from his mug as he left the tent while Chrom called out to him.

"Good luck!"

He waved and stuffed another sausage into his mouth. Without swallowing his food he took another sip of the good tea. Today was going to be an interesting morning.


	2. Tracking

Chapter 2

"What the hell are you doing Nowi? Dear Naga!" Robin shouted in surprise.

Robin was rather confused as he had brought back the orange for Nowi, who proceeded to eat it whole. She took a bite out of it like it was an apple.

"Isn't that really bitter?" he said.

Nowi shrugged and took another bite. At that moment Stahl chose to run into their tent.

"What happened? Robin why were you shou-" he cut himself off after seeing Nowi, "Dear Naga my eyes are bleeding."

He ran out crying, and covering his face with his hands.

Robin sighed. He looked at the manakete. She looked young and innocent but she was old enough to know why what she was doing was weird. To humans at least. Putting that aside, he was interested in her clothing.

They were in the middle of Plegia, and as the sun rose in the sky so did the temperature. She was wearing a heavy looking long-sleeved shirt which was tightened at the wrists so it wouldn't ride up.

"Aren't you going to to be really hot in such a thick piece of clothing?" he asked.

Nowi countered, pointing her orange at Robin, "Aren't you wearing a heavy cloak? It looks like it weighs just as much as me."

Robin took a quick step outside and looked around for a minute. Seeing nobody nearby he popped back into the tent to answer the confused Nowi.

He leaned in and whispered, "to tell you the truth, its climate controlled. It is quite cool under the cloak. It has a powerful magic laced into the fibers of it. Don't tell anyone else they might get mad."

Nowi seemed to understand as she nodded and finished downing her orange. Then she reached out and took his mug of tea and finished that off too. He stood there speechless as she walked out of the tent.

"Well I'm gonna go find someone to play with," Nowi dismissed.

Robin called after her, "Hey you should at least help me clean up the tent, you slept here you know."

But she was gone.

Robin sighed, and set about packing his tent up for the day. His high position in the army allotted him a knave who would come and pack his things into the carts, but he still organized everything and packed the contents of his desk away for safety.

After his things were all packed away he set himself to the task of finding Cordelia. She was the only one in the army who would be able to tell him whether or not there were any available tents from memory. She was a genius but he wouldn't say it to her face. It was a rather sensitive topic for her.

Fortunately he was in a great deal of luck. He found her in the first place he looked. She was finishing her breakfast in the mess tent, along with Sumia and Miriel. Unfortunately for him though, in the night one of the soldiers had accidentally set fire to his tent and burned a whole mess of them down. It seemed that not only would Nowi not be getting her tent, but that several soldiers would be looking for people to share with them.

Robin walked out of the tent sighing. He was going to supervise the take down of the tents. It would be more than an hour before the army was on the move again, and he had to make sure that they got ready properly. The heat was beginning to make them all sluggish, so it would probably take even longer than he estimated. They wouldn't be able to procure more tents or even any kind of shelter until the next city in their path, which was at least a week away and a midpoint in the journey before they reached the capital.

They were moving faster than any army normally should when out on the march but they did have a good cause. Because of Emmeryn's captivity and looming execution they were pushing their soldiers to march for more hours everyday. They started as close to sunrise as they could and didn't end until nearly sundown. The army regularly ended up pitching their tents in the dark by fire light. The shepherds had it easy in the fact that Miriel had invented a light spell that would glow brighter than a fire and could light their whole section of the campsite.

Robin took his list out and began checking off squads and platoons as they completed their routine packing for the morning. Marks were given to especially slow units, and merits to those who completed their task in record time. When drills were run once a week the slower units were tasked with more work. More laps and and more push-ups. Crunches were a must, as well as many more repetitions of weapon drills.

Soon enough, or rather, not soon enough, they were off on the march. Their destination was a line as straight as possible to reach the capitol of Plegia the quickest. Their rapid approach was leaving every member of the arm absolutely exhausted, but the moral was high. If Robin had to be a little tired and grumpy for the army to be in a generally good mood he would take that as a fair trade off. They all felt safe with him pulling the strings, and there was little dissent among the troops.

Robin had great confidence in their success in bringing Emmeryn home to Ylisstol. Though his plan for what to do once they actually get to the Plegian capitol were constantly changing as he thought of new scenarios and possible mistakes.

For the time being though, all he could do was prepare. There wasn't going to be any reaction to situations until they actually entered the battlefield.

The march that day had felt to be extremely long and arduous. Even Robin, with his special secret cloak, was beginning to over heat and feel the powerful effects of the desert sun. however night had not set in and he was now beginning to get rather cold. That was something about the desert that truly fascinated him. It was so horrendously and unbearably hot during the day, yet it was as cold at night as it was hot, or it at least seemed like it.

The cold was easily chased out by a good fire, so that was where Robin was. Nowi seemed to have attached herself to him, as even though there was plenty of space around the fire and only a few other people, she had chosen to sit next to him. Not just by his side, but to the point were as she swayed back and forth to some invisible song she would brush against his shoulder.

He didn't miss the odd glances that everyone around the fire tossed to him occasionally as the petite girl next to him quietly hummed to herself. The only one who didn't seem to care was Panne, but that was perhaps just the way those of her species acted, or maybe the fact that she didn't like Nowi for whatever reason. He didn't like that there was some rift in the shepherds.

Suddenly Nowi stood up and dusted herself off.

"This is all boring and stuff. I'm going to go to bed," she said.

Nowi stomped off towards _his_ tent. He wouldn't think of it as hers to until she helped him clean it up in the morning. Robin sighed.

He looked back at the fire for a moment but was interrupted by a loud shout coming from his tent. It was Nowi and she was yelling at someone. Everyone at the fire stood alert and Robin set off at a quick pace towards his quarters.

He ripped the flaps of his tent to find Nowi wrestling with a stranger on the dirt floor of his tent. Immediately he set himself into action. He wrestled the man away from Nowi to avoid harming her. Then he pinned the man down with his arms behind his back and his wrists twisted into a painful position.

"Go grab some people Nowi. We have to restrain him for questioning," Robin said.

Nowi immediately ran out of the tent, and not soon after Vaike and Sully were in there with rope to help Robin tie the offender up. Afterwards they transported him to a different location to be put under watch and prepared for questioning. Interrogation was not his forte nor something he particularly wanted to get a good view of, so instead of assisting in that he left to go clean up his tent.

Inside the tent Nowi was sitting cross legged in her cot, covered in her blanket, though she wasn't relaxed. She was sitting and staring at the entrance, and then him once he entered. He could see that the assailant had hit her pretty hard in the mouth. A welt was beginning to form and there was a bit of dried blood.

"Why didn't you go get that checked out by Lissa or Maribelle?" Robin said, pointing to her injured cheek.

Nowi shrugged, "nah I'm too sleepy. I was just getting to bed."

With that she spread herself out on her own cot and let the blanket cover her. She turned to face the other direction.

Robin did his best to not disturb her as he cleaned up his tent. It seemed that the assailant had been rifling through his paperwork as they were all out of order, not to mention strewn about the room. He spent a good hour finding all the papers and reorganizing them all into proper order. Once that was finally done he took his cloak and trousers off and lay in bed in his long undergarments.

He lay in his cot, yet he could not fall asleep. His thoughts drifted to the attacker. He wondered how the spy had managed to enter his tent without anyone seeing him. He wondered how the spy knew to enter his tent. It made him question whether or not the man was from the Ylissian-Feroxi coalition. He would have to bring that matter to attention in the morning, if someone hadn't already thought of it.

Needless to say. Robin's thoughts kept him up well into the night, far past what he even usually stayed awake to study tactics. He did eventually sleep though.

More than a week later and they had still not managed to procure any kind of tent or canopy in order to give Nowi a room, and him his space back. The manakete girl had flooded his tent with her collectible things she picked up around the campsite and on the trail. She would pack them all up every day,- thank Naga- but have them all splayed out again by the time he was in his cot for sleep. They were all small little trinkets and baubles.

Mostly she gathered shiny rocks and pebbles, but if he looked hard enough at her piles of things he would be able to make out other little bits. Gold coins, wooden carvings someone had more than likely thrown out, small pieces of colorful cloth. She didn't seem to have a limit to what exactly she would gather. He had even approached her to make sure that she wasn't stealing any of it.

He asked her, and when he did she pouted, stomped her foot, and crossed her arms before giving him a response.

"What do you take me for? Some kind of sneak thief? No way would I do that to people's things. All my stuff is gathered fair and square," she had said.

Robin's only response was to take a deep breath. He gave up with it.

While they couldn't find any tents in the last major city they occupied, Robin did manage to procure a book on manakete of all things. It covered the general statistics, anatomy, and history of the species. Once he had the book he added it to his rotation of reading, and began studying the textbook. It was a book he only broke out when tactics began to give him a serious headache.

Robin hadn't gotten around to borrowing another book from Sumia, so he used the manakete book as a replacement. It was, overall, beneficial to him, considering he had a manakete imposing on his space. Among other things he had come to understand why she began hoarding things, and decided that he couldn't do anything about it.

He wouldn't have forced her to stop anyway. Intrusive as her habits were, she was sharing the space with him, and did deserve some bit of freedom in how the place looked. Well _he_ thought like that anyway. Robin was almost certain that if he had consulted Vaike, for example, on the matter, he would have received some advice about taking control of his own life because he was his own man.

Over the past few days since they had occupied the recent city and moved on, he could say that he learned quite a bit about his new roommate. It appeared that he would have to share a space with her for the rest of the campaign after all.

It appeared that the campaign would soon be over however, as they were just two days time away from the Plegian capitol and saving Emmeryn. His strategy was nearing it's finishing touches, and he planned for their arrival to be at an exact time. The day that they arrived was scheduled for the Exalt's execution. It was a strategy that Gangrel would surely not think of.

His strategist might have thought that they would wait until the last minute to do the rescue, but there was no way that they would think of _how_ he would carry out the operation. It was completely insane. An ingenious plan. It was a plan putting absolute trust in his army. It was something that a man like Gangrel could never think of in his own selfishness and hatred of others. He wasn't know as "The Mad King" for nothing.

Ever since they had moved within a week's range of the Plegian capitol Robin had been running his own scenario over and over in his head. The moves of the pieces repeated over and over in his head. All he could think of was the upcoming battle. It was quickly encroaching on his very soul until he had to ride with the caravan in order to avoid injuring him self by walking into a ditch or letting himself get run over by a horse. Courtesy of Chrom's orders he was confined into a covered wagon for many hours on end.

It was the most infuriating thing to him. He couldn't see the progress of the army from within the wagon. He couldn't see the landscape. He couldn't prepare for a surprise attack beyond just considering army sizes and types without some idea of the general terrain.

Robin couldn't assess the condition of soldiers, he wouldn't know which units to send where. What platoon needed to be where. He couldn't assess their physical preparedness to be in the front lines. What if he sent a unit forward in battle when they were far too tired too-

"Hey what'cha thinkin about Robin?"

The surprise question and presence of the manakete in the wagon made Robin literally jump skywards, or rather, wagon-wards, and he smashed into the ceiling of the covered wagon. He could feel the warmth of the heavy cloth on the back of his head.

Nowi fell over in a laughing fit.

"Dear gods. Hehehe! Oh-haahha! I scared you!" she cried.

Nowi was sobbing and hiccuping while trying to contain herself. Her hard, wheezing laughter had some effect on it. Robin began to let out his own laugh, though a bit more subdued, at the sheer amazement of her laughter. Quickly it escalated to dangerous levels of hysteria, and both Robin and Nowi were holding themselves by the sides. They calmed down for a moment, but one look at each other sent them both back into hysteria. Neither of them stopped until Robin started gagging and retching as his body tried to gain control.

"Gods. Robin control yourself," Nowi giggled, before quickly descending back into her fit.

Robin looked on in sheer amazement as to how she could keep going. He was busy choking on nothing trying to recover after such a long time of being unable to breath. He was also in some deal of pain, and nearly sure that he had bruised his ribs. He could only attribute it to her tough manakete body.

After some time she finally stopped. While he waited he had rested his head up against one of the small wooden support columns of the wagon and waited. He took a couple of deep breaths and calmed himself down after that completely senseless bit of laughter.

When Nowi was finally finished and had enough energy to calmly move herself onto the bench, she place herself next to him.

"Phew that was good, eh?" Nowi nudged his side with her elbows, causing him to flinch away.

"Ow. Careful Nowi I think I bruised my ribs," Robin said.

"Oh? What? You can do that to yourself?" Nowi question, as she brought her hand up and rubbed her ear.

"Yeah well, I was holding myself pretty hard in order to avoid literally having my sides split apart." Robin responded, "anyway. Why are you even in the wagon? It was cleared out of other soldiers so I could rest alone."

Nowi thought for a moment before answering.

"Well I'm still pretty sleepy after so long of dealing with those Grimy bozos for such a long time you know. Sometimes I get really sleepy around mid-day. Well not sometimes. I think pretty much everyday I've had to go ride the wagons. Thanks though, for clearing out the wagon. With all those soldier guys in here it makes it weird you know? They kinda scoot away from me whenever I jump on the wagon. Its weird, but I can't help being this intimidating lil' ol' thing," Nowi said, and winked at Robin.

Just like that, their conversation hit it off for the day. They talked the day away. Their chat ranged all over. As they sat and talked the sun steadily, and quickly, it seemed, fell into near obscurity beyond the horizon.

The wagon slowly creaked to a stop as the steam of the army crashed to a halt. The movement of the entire congregation was always a wave of sorts at stopping time. The center of the massive blocks of men would stop, and it would spread out from the commander in the middle like the ripples of water on a pond. It was as if the centurions themselves were the drops of water as they took up the call to cease for the day.

Tents were pitched in the near dark, and barricades were ignored in place of haste. While the army would normally set up some kind of barricade around the perimeter of the camp, the general speed of their current campaign could only allow for a night's watch to be put into place. In the matter of two hours the camp city was set up yet again and for the final time before going home.

Sometime the next day, a short while after noon they expected to arrive at the capitol. If things went as predicted, they would arrive prepared for battle as the Exalt was being ferried to her place of execution. Just as she would be ferried to her death, so would they ferry her into the safe arms of her nation.

That was for tomorrow. While he was unable to do anything else about the future other than prepare, that didn't let the nagging nauseated feeling leave him. For now though, he was to have one last chance to rest and relax before the battle on the morrow took his energy.

In celebration of the last night, Robin sat outside of his tent, and at a fire surrounded by other shepherds. He took part in swapping stories around the fire. Everyone was attempting to cheer themselves up in preparation for the grim reminder of what reality really was the next day. While he had limited memory, and thus, a limited supply of stories to tell, he did enjoy hearing others' stories.

In particular, the time when Sully actually got Frederick to arm wrestle her. It apparently took quite a bit of convincing from her side, and a little bit of nudging and hinting from Chrom. When the match began it had already ended. Sully gave great detail of how floppy and useless her broken arm was afterwards. Needless to say, nobody ever challenged Frederick to a game of strength again.

It was those such stories that they shared around the campfire. Silly stories. Embarrassing stories. Weird stories. There was no shortage of tales to tell around the fire. After some time though, Robin grew weary and decided to step out of camp for a short while.

As he passed by a patrol of watchmen they stopped and saluted him. As his position dictated, he stopped and gave them all the same courtesy. Then, he went on his way.

Some ways away from camp he stopped and found an excellent spot on a rocky ledge overlooking an incredibly short drop. Really it was just high enough off the ground for him to let his legs hang over the side without brushing the ground below. The clean breeze away from the army was something else.

He sat for a moment to just enjoy the clean air. There was no smell of unwashed men. There was no smell of camp smoke. Not even a whiff of the thousands of horses they transported with them. It was a completely refreshing experience, and he made note to step away from the main group a little more often to let his nose clear. That was when it happened.

"Robin hey watch out!" a voice said in alarm.

 _What?_ Robin turned to look at the source of the voice. At the same time, some blunt object smashed directly into his face. Having still being seated by the small cliff, he fell the short distance to the bottom and landed on his back facing skywards,

At the ledge a figure leaned over the edge to get a better look on her hands and knees. Yeah Nowi was looking down at him.

"What are you doing Nowi? Trying to kill me? What did you throw at me?" Robin grumbled.

Above him he could see the manakete's silhouette shift slightly. He couldn't make out her actual features as his position did not allow for direct moonlight to show itself. Normally the desert moon would give him an excellent view of his surroundings, though he was sure that she could see him nearly perfectly.

"Sorry Robin, I saw a snake, or I guess I was hunting it. I wanted to try to nail it with a rock," she said.

She held up a vaguely round object, which gave off a faint glowing shine.

"Nowi you threw your dragonstone at me?" Robin questioned from his prone position.

"Nu-uh its not my dragonstone. Its not even close to cool enough or precious enough for it to be my dragon stone," Nowi exclaimed.

She then proceeded to produce something else from who knew where, probably actual thin air. He was becoming convinced that she could just store objects with magic or something similar.

The object she was presenting to him was indeed a great deal more magnificent than the rock she had thrown at him. It gave off an actual glow. It wasn't just somewhat shiny and reflective like the other rock. He could tell that it was definitely the aforementioned dragonstone.

"It may not be as impressive as a dragonstone, but it still looks quite valuable, and you were tossing it around at some snake. Why are you hunting game with a rock again?" he questioned.

"Idoknow. I just saw the snake and it just kinda... happened...?" Nowi trailed off as she pouted, "Anyways it's kind of an important stone. It was hard to find you know?"

"Then why are you throwing it around?" Robin questioned.

"The snake. Remember silly billy? You know? Those really slithery, slimy things," Nowi was exasperated.

Robin looked up at her, "Uh-huh."

He stood up and made his way up and around the cliff. He then held his hand out at her.

"Here let me see the rock I'm going to see if I can't hit it when it comes back out of hiding. It can't be much different than casting magic. Its all about the focus and control. It takes a truly steady mind in order to do it well." He said.

"Oooh," Nowi exclaimed, as she handed him the shiny rock.

She seemed a bit nervous, though about what, he didn't know. She stood next to him and waited patiently for the snake to appear yet again. Luckily after only a short while waiting, the little creature snuck its head out of a crack in the rock. Beside him Nowi let out a heavy breath.

Taking in his own breath, Robin prepared himself. He narrowed his focus and gripped the rock. Then, he launched it striking the snake directly in the skull, knocking it unconscious.

"Wowwie Robin! That was amazing! You have to show me how to do it. Just like that. I want to be able to throw stuff like that," Nowi said, as she mimed a throwing motion.

"Well, alright then. I guess we have some time, and it is bright enough with this desert moon. Okay," Robin affirmed.

Next, Robin handed the shiny rock to Nowi and moved behind her. He reached out and grabbed her wrists in order to help her mime the motions better. It was his experience that experiencing something was the best experience. He felt that her getting to feel the motions was far better than him just showing her how to do it.

Therefore, he was standing close behind her, nearly pressing himself against her body in order to better teach her. He could feel that she flinched and froze as he gripped her wrists. She was still wearing the long shirt, though out in the desert night it was necessary. He had given up on asking what she was doing wearing such a thick outfit. He could understand a thinner shirt being used for protection against burns from the harsh sun, but not some winter thick shirt. It would be far to stifling for him.

She relaxed quickly into his grip, her surprise at such an action having been calmed down. Now Robin was guiding her upper body through the motion of properly throwing something for accuracy. It was all in the wrist, so to say, as he spent a great deal of time explaining the motion of the wrist to her so she could know how to actually catapult the rock at things.

He would start her all the way from a tilted position and fluidly move her to the point were she would allow the rock to fly from her hand at the target.

"I'd tell you it was all in the wrist, but you should also remember the other parts of your body that have to move in order to give the throw more power. I guess you could say it's all in the wrist, but it starts with the legs," Robin instructed, as he took her through the motion again one last time, "Alright now you can try it. See that little notch in the stone right there?" he pointed, and she nodded, "you're going to hit that spot."

"Okidoky Robiyoki. Let's give this a try," she said.

Robin sighed at the name.

Aversa left the luxurious bed of the mad king and left him to his childish sleep. She dressed herself and left the room. Then she proceeded through a number of winding pathways and halls, making sure her path was far too confusing to follow. She couldn't have any of that. A killing in the castle would rouse suspicion after all. After a brief check to insure that no one was coming she quietly cast the spell and stepped through the dark tunnel that opened up in front of her. Afterwards she closed the passageway entrance and proceeded into the depths of the castle's secrets.

After a long series of tunnels she came upon a large circular room, lit by candlelight. The large circle of candles cast an eerie glow, and a snake like man sat in the middle of this circle.

"How are things going with the king, Aversa?" the man questioned.

"Excellent my lord. Everything is according the plan. All goes as you deign it. Even the very waters of the world would be at your beck and call," Aversa chuckled.

"We are tracking the Ylissians as we speak. That spell of yours is doing wonders for intelligence, my darling," the man said.

"Hehe. Eexcellent," she said, long and sultry.


	3. NO!

All of the Plegian capital and its surrounding fields were in absolute chaos. The Ylissian-Feroxi contingent had assaulted and surrounded everything. Half of their army was in a turtle lock with with the Plegian forces, and the other half was occupying the city and rooting out any other soldiers.

That's what Robin assumed was going on. Based on his plans he knew what should be happening, but not what was really happening. He was with the shepherds, and they were advancing towards the execution yard along with a task-force-in-hiding of Pegasus Knights. Robin's plans were all coming together in one conglomerate success. Even the mix of unit types within the enemy lines seemed to hold up to his predictions.

There was just one thing. Ahead of the lines, there seemed to be a commotion that was drawing the attention of a number of the Plegian forces. Robin called Cordelia over to him.

"Cordelia can you take me up into the air for a moment? I need to see what's going on." Robin shouted over the din of the battlefield.

"Of course Robin. Hop on and don't be afraid to hold on tight," was her response.

Soon Robin was in the air and receiving some rather important information. From his vantage point he could see what looked like a lone women fending herself against the Plegian forces. She seemed to be doing well, though he could tell that she had a leg injury.

Robin landed and hopped of the pegasus. Cordelia had conveniently placed him near Chrom. That was a good thing, because he needed to speak with him.

"Chrom! There seems to be a woman in need of assistance of that way, behind those rocks! She is being surrounded by a number of the enemy. Take Sumia and Nowi with you," Robin finished.

"Yeah got it," was his response.

"What? I heard my name," Nowi appeared next to Robin.

"Nowi you are going with Chrom over that way," Robin said, not entirely unsurprised by her sudden appearance.

"Roger-dodger," she responded.

Then, they were off to go and rescue the woman that he had seen. He saw as Chrom called for Sumia. He mounted her pegasus and went off into the air, with Nowi close behind.

Robin turned his attention to the front line of the shepherds, which was about to crash against another wave of the enemy.

"Ricken, Miriel, with me. Lets hit that first line with a wave of magic," Robin Commanded.

He moved in front of the line, along with Miriel and Ricken. All three of them began to chant out of their books. The strategy was to deliver an unavoidably devastating magical mix of the three primary schools of Anima. Interesting things always tended to happen when combining the magics together. It almost always involved some kind of large explosion that sent the enemy flying. Literally soaring through the air.

Their spells hit the charging enemy line and created the desired effect, sending the first line everywhere and knocking down the second line. Before the lines could regroup and reach them, Robin, Miriel, and Ricken abandoned the front and moved to the back in order to avoid the oncoming chaos.

Robin took out his sword and moved into the line. Space was made for him, and the line grew longer. They were at a true numbers disadvantage, but Robin was not worried. He was confident of their far superior skill.

"Charge!" he gave the command that set the Shepherds into motion.

They plowed forward, not stopping for the fallen and injured they caused. The line was never broken, and quick progress was made as they broke through and decimated the enemy in front of them. While they certainly were making good progress, the constant pressure from aerial support. More than half of their fliers were away on a short mission. Cordelia was the only one that they had to throw heat down into the enemy. One javelin thrower was not enough to stop or even slow the enemy. Without Sumia and Nowi to help her, Cordelia wouldn't be able to offer much support.

Then Robin had the idea to send Virion into the air with Cordelia. It was genius. He backed out of the line in a moment of respite and signaled for Cordelia and Virion to come to him.

"Alright. Idea time guys. Virion I need you to ride with Cordelia and provide bow support from the air. Pick out primary targets. That means archers and mages. If you can get a good shot, any heavily armored ones too. Make sure to watch out for enemy wyvern riders, you'll have a much easier time at picking them out of the sky from a level field of play. Good luck, don't die, go get'em," Robin delivered his orders.

Ahead of them now, Robin could both see and hear as the shepherds destroyed another line of the enemy. Virion and Cordelia took off, and as they flew away Chrom, Sumia, and Nowi landed. On Nowi's back was the woman who Robin had seen earlier, along with a far more scantily clad woman. The two on her back did not look comfortable next to each other. They dismounted from Nowi and the one clad in white bowed. He could see that she was performing a ritual of prayer directed at Nowi. This let him know that she was among the Naga faithful.

The other, less clothed woman, took several steps to the side and looked down and away from Nowi. She looked to be a dark mage.

It then occurred to Robin, for the first time, that not only was Nowi a manakete; she was also a Divine Dragon. It had never crossed his mind to think that she was a Divine Dragon, though she fit the description from his book that he had acquired.

Robin approached the cleric in order to speak with her.

Behind him the shepherds were locked in place by a line of heavily armored soldiers.

"My lady, can I inquire as to your name?" Robin asked.

"Sir, if you would please, I am a man." the not-woman said.

Robin coughed, "excuse me?"

Chrom burst into a short spurt of laughter, "Haha yeah. Got me too the first time."

"What? Ah, never mind. We'll have a cleric tend to your wounds in the mean time sit tight and be patient," Robin sighed, "Hey Lissa!"

"What? I'm busy here. Give me a minute," she responded.

It was true she was finishing up a a large wound on the side of Lon'qu's leg. It looked like he had been speared through. Once she was done patching him up he lept forward and rejoined the fray. Lissa ran over to them.

"Okay what?" she was breathing somewhat heavy.

"Liss could you tend to her- er his wounds right now. Nowi, Sumia get into the air and start giving some support. Chrom who is that one?"

"Sure Robby."

"At once, Sir Robin,"

"She's a Plegian dark mage. Her name is Tharja. She's tired of following the orders of the Mad King, and expressed an interest in joining our ranks," Chrom said.

"I see..." Robin looked her up and down.

Tharja looked up at him briefly before lowering her head again, pulling her dark tome even closer towards her chest.

"Tharja could you go over there," Robin pointed at the other mages, "and help out our mages, they'll give you some instruction."

"Yes... sir," she responded, before swaying off.

"Chrom let's join the ranks and push forward," Robin said, looking the prince in the eyes.

Chrom looked at Nowi flying in the air, and then him, then, he smirked.

"Roger-dodger, _Robby"_

Robin sighed. It was the middle of a battle, and Chrom was teasing him. It really wasn't the moment, but he supposed Chrom could do what he wanted. He was a prince, _and_ in a good mood. They were getting ready to save his sister after all.

 **Forward to the end of the battle**

"Alright Robin. The battle has finished and their general has fallen I'm giving the signal," Chrom said.

At which point he whistled and made some deft movement with his arms and hands. Then seemingly out of nowhere, a hoard of pegasus knights launched into the sky.

From his point of vantage, Robin could see some kind of extreme physical reaction from Gangrel atop his balcony at the sight of the armada the pegusi. Then a very, _very_ , feminine figure showed up next to Gangrel on the balcony, and Robin could only assume that it was Aversa.

Suddenly, truly suddenly, everything went to Hell. Out of the sky came Risen. A horde of Risen. It was a force far greater in numbers than shepherds. It was a larger number than they had ever faced. And they were all archers.

And then his armada of pegusi were falling from the sky all at once.

Then in his shock, as his plans and everything else fell apart in front of him, he could hear Gangrel's voice from the long distance away.

"Don't move another inch you Ylissian dogs, or I'll turn your beloved Exalt into the world's largest pin cushion. Surrender the Fire Emblem to me and we can avoid this now hmm? I'll let that pretty little exalted highness, your sister, go, if only you would relinquish that petty little family trinket of yours," Gangrel growled.

Chrom turned to Robin, searching for guidance, but there was none in him. Robin was frozen in place. He was stuck, in body and mind. Failure spat him right in his face for the first time. It was awful and he could do nothing. No amount of tactical thinking could get them through what he was seeing in front of him, because what he saw in front of him was despair and defeat.

They weren't just in a tight spot in a fight. It wasn't a situation to be overcame. It was already over and done. It was the feeling he was sure that the king on a chess board felt when loss was eminent. After every other on of the pieces had been claimed and he was the last one.

No. This was worse than that by far.

Then, as he stood and everything around him collapsed in on him, he could hear Emmeryn speak, and he couldn't hear her. He knew she was speaking, but he couldn't hear her, and Chrom was screaming, and running towards Emmeryn, and Emmeryn was falling through the air towards the ground.

She fell down, and down for an eternity, Chrom ran, and ran to save her for an eternity. Beside him Lissa was crying, and Frederick was holding her. Eternity was soon over and Emmeryn crunched to a halt. She landed with a horrible angle, and everything was wrong.

Then Flavia was there, and everybody was running. Everything happened too fast for his numbed mind to handle. He couldn't tell who was carrying him, until everything suddenly came into focus and he saw the blue haired man who had thrown him over his shoulder.

"Chrom," Robin rasped, "Put me down. Let me go!"

And Chrom dropped him and he landed on his back. He got to his feet and didn't have time to steady himself. He had to keep running. He stumbled forward as fast as he could. The Risen were in pursuit of them, and he had to keep running. Robin launched forward into the desert after Chrom and the others. Then, not too long after, it started raining.

The terrain quickly became a slog, and the Shepherds were sloshing through puddles of water and mud as deep as their knees at times. Still they had to keep going. Who knew how close behind them the enemy was?

Robin slowly gathered himself together as their pace became a crawl. He was attempting to emotionally right himself enough to be able to stoically assess the situation. No matter his failure he had to keep going. It was too late to fix the past, but he could stop the future from having its own way. He was at the back of the pack, and he could see the caravan of his defeated comrades ahead.

It was then that he steeled himself, because he realized that he had something to protect now. It was those people he could see in front of him. The people he had let down. They were the people that had ultimate trust in him, and he them. It was a relationship that he had compromised, but it was still a relationship, and he would have to work hard to fix that tarnished relationship that he had garnished from them.

Now he carefully made his way to the very front of the group, assessing the situation and condition of his people as he went. He mentally made a checklist of who was injured in need of care, and who would not be able to fight. Nearly all of them had arrow wounds of some kind, but there was not time to risk treating them. Those with wounds would need to wait until they found a safe spot to stop, or a spot were the wagons could appropriately carry them.

At the front of the crowd, Robin approached Chrom.

"We need to go to Regna Ferox to regroup and recuperate. If we want to finish this, we need time to rest and rethink a strategy," Robin whispered to Chrom.

"What do we need to finish Robin? Emm's gone. Naga knows what happened to our army after we had to abandon them like that. What is there? Our entire reason for this war was to save my sister! What? Are we just going to go to Ferox, lick our wounds clean, then come back out here for seconds?" Chrom was raising his voice.

"Yeah," Robin responded, " We are going to Ferox and we are going to recover. Then we'll come back and finish this off. Just because Emmeryn is dead doesn't mean that Gangrel is going to stop killing. If anything, her death may encourage him to mount a full scale invasion on Ylisse. It's going to be our job to stop that from happening, so we are going to cut the weed at it's roots. We aren't just going to wait for the invasion to happen, Chrom. We are going to prevent it. So we are going to Ferox to recover, and then we are coming back."

Robin's words seemed to make Chrom sink even further into the watery mud.

"Halt!" a man shouted at them, "I am General Mustafa. Surrender yourselves to me and I can promise you that no harm shall come to you."

"General Mustafa, I am disinclined to believe that," Robin shouted back.

"Is there no way that I can sway you to a peaceful ending tactician? I beg you to reconsider," the general answered.

"NO. We will be taking our leave of this place very soon. If you aren't going to step back and allow us to pass then we _will_ take up arms against you," Robin responded.

Mustafa look Robin straight in the eyes and nodded.

"Very well. To arms then! But I would ask one thing of you tactician. Please. Spare my men," the general said.

Robin took a look at the men in question. They looked just as demoralized as his own shepherds, maybe more so.

"Form up shepherds! Lets get through this," Robin commanded.

Somewhere behind him he could hear Vaike give an aggressive roar. Everyone else gave him shouts of affirmation.

"Your orders are do not kill. Render them unconscious. Injure them if you must, healers exist for a reason, but I'll not have unnecessary blood spilled this day," Robin finished.

The shepherds formed up into their respective small teams. The fight ahead of them was not one of holding the line, but sweeping forward in small squads. Through the heavy rain and mist they charged forward through deep sloughs in the ground, with near mountainous hedges of dirt on both sides. It was like little miniature valleys many times the length of a wyvern. As everyone disappeared down the corridors Robin realized that he would have to supervise everyone.

"Nowi can you give me a ride? I need to be able to see everything," Robin shouted into the sky.

Nowi who was circling above, looking for victims, heard him and immediately descended to the ground. With a great slorping thud befitting a dragon landing in the mud, Nowi landed on the ground. Robin dashed towards her and jumped up on her back, carefully remembering that he was on the back of a soldier, and not a pegasus.

If it hadn't been raining he would be on the back of a pegasus, but the flying horses' exhaustion, coupled with the rain did not make for a good combination, so Cordelia and Sumia were both going it on foot. He didn't like riding Nowi, as she was far more useful in battle for combat rather than scouting. It was necessary to get a view of what he was doing.

The battle was long. Not because of the grueling combat, but because of the horrible condition of the field. More than once Robin had to direct Nowi to fly down and pull someone out of the mud before they sunk and suffocated. In the end, death was unavoidable, though somewhat preventable, and they were able to spare the lives of most the terrified men in front of them. Mustafa was not among those who survived.

Chrom faced the honorable General down in combat and bested him, thus ended the battle. All of Mustafa's soldiers threw down their weapons and surrendered. Instead of taking prisoners however, their only objective was to get out of there, and so they left the grieving soldiers to bury their superior in favor of leaving Plegia quicker.

Soon the ground became more grassy and more sandy and they were able to load onto the caravan and rest. Or well, rest as well as they could. Lissa, Maribelle, and Libra ran about and did their best to heal wounds, and then everyone separated into wagons. Instead of packing into a wagon with the rest of the shepherds, Chrom invited Robin to stay in his relatively empty wagon, personal to him and Sumia apparently.

Robin didn't care how weird it would be, he was going to get to sleep laying down and that was what mattered. It didn't really bother him that he was getting ready to sleep with his friend and the man's lover. While it was unannounced, and unofficial, Robin knew. In fact, pretty much everyone knew.

So then, Robin was lying down in a cart with two other people and trying to sleep, but something felt out of place. It wasn't exactly uncomfortable. It just felt weird. Nearby he could hear Chrom shifting around. The man was having it rough. Everyone was, but Chrom was completely beside himself. He didn't know what to do anymore.

It was best to just sleep, he supposed, but he had difficulty. He drifted off ever so slowly before the night finally took him.

 **Several days later; Regna Ferox, Colosseum Palace.**

They all unloaded the wagons and brought all of their things inside, of the building. As a contrast to the outside air, within the confines of the colosseum it was quite warm, warm enough that many of the shepherds began to take layers and layers off, except for Vaike of course.

Khan Flavia, in conversing with him, decided her hospitality was best served warm, and a warm meal was prepared for the shepherds. Robin had difficulty eating. All he wanted was to fall into a bed, but he knew that eating was necessary, and ignoring the Khan's generosity would likewise be a bad thing. So Robin sat quietly like everyone else and ate his meal.

After the meal, Flavia was kind enough to give them all their own room to use as they so desired, for the time being at least.

Robin found his room and was both surprised and nonplussed. The room was just as warm and atmospheric as the whole of the Colosseum. Animal skins, and even the head of a dear were mounted on the walls. His bed seemed to be crafted of skins, and the blankets, no surprise there, were also made of animal.

Quickly, and sloppily, Robin took his outer garments off and fell into the furry bed and wrapped himself in the warmth. He would have gone to sleep had a certain dragon interrupted him.

"Scoot over Robin. Let me under the covers," Nowi grumbled.

She was rubbing her eyes and attempting to keep them open.

"Nowi? What are you doing? Don't you have your own room?" Robin questioned.

"Yeah I do," Nowi responded, "It's just kinda lonely in there all alone, and it wasn't any fun. Now are you gonna make me sleep on top of the covers or are you going to let me get warm?"

Whether he responded or not, she was already getting into his bed under the covers. Robin sighed.

"Hold on, I'll just put on my coat and then sleep on top of the covers. It'll be fine," he said.

But as he was gathering himself to get out of the bed a slender presence made to grabbed onto his army, and a very sleepy Nowi grabbed onto his arm and hugged it to her body.

"No!... Stay. Won't it be fine to be under the covers together? It isn't like we are gonna do something you know," Nowi reasoned.

Robin sighed and got back into position. Nowi didn't relinquish his arm to him. Instead she only brought herself closer until she was right up against him. Robin tried to hide his blush at the pretty creature now holding him down into the bed. She was drifting off, and he couldn't very well disturb her. It didn't exactly feel wrong. If anything it felt comfortable. He could only hope to attempt to control himself and go to sleep.

"Your feet are cold," Robin stated.

"You're really warm," Nowi said sleepily.

Robin woke in the morning to the sun on his face. Damn Flavia, giving him a room with a window to the sunrise. A glass window was such a luxury too. Chrom, Robin, and Lissa were probably the only ones who got them. Maybe Frederick and Virion too. The fop would probably up and demand a better room if he wasn't given one.

Robin looked over and saw that Nowi was curled up into the smallest ball possible. So much so, that he had to lift the covers in order to find her, as she had disappeared beneath the many folds of blanket.

"Nowi," he gently gripped her shoulder, "It's time to get up," he whispered.

She unfurled herself and sat up like lightning. Before he could stop her she had scrambled out of the bed and stood facing him. Her pupils shrank to slits, and he saw the growing spikes of her teeth and claws.

"Nowi it's just me. Its Robin see?" he held up his hands.

She stood panting. He witnessed something miraculous occur right before his eyes. Her eyes transformed in shape back to their regular human form. He watched as her claws shrunk into fingernails. The aggressive air in the room dissipated.

She recomposed herself and sat back on the bed, going cross-legged.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to do that," she apologized.

"It's perfectly all right. Did you have a nightmare?" he asked.

"Yeah. Sure," was her response.

Robin pulled the blankets off himself and sat facing Nowi.

"Do you want to talk about it with me?" he asked.

She shook her head no. Her morning hair whipped past her face and fell over her shoulders as she did so. Robin looked away, to the wintry landscape outside the window.

After a moment, Robin scooted off of the bed and threw on his spare sandals.

"I'm going to go find the bath house. I'm certain such a luxurious place will have it's own plumbing. I could use a chance to wash away the grime of the desert," Robin said.

"Uh-huh. I might go do that too," she said, "a bath sounds nice."

Robin pointed at her, blushing, "I may have shared my bed with you, but I will not be sharing a bath with you, just to make that clear. Go find your own tub of water to soak in."

He patted her head, and she shrunk away from his hand.

"Go take your bath silly. Stop stalling, unless you _really want_ me to get in the bath with you," She drawled.

"Nope. Nope, I'm good. Lissa bugging me is enough thank you. I don't need anyone else doing it too. Nope. Goodbye," he said, as he walked out of the bedroom.

Nowi sighed as Robin noped out of the bedroom. She crawled to the headboard and sat against it, pulling her knees to her chest, and crossing her ankles. For some time she sat there, wondering how quickly Robin would come back to the room. She knew he would come back once he was done with his bath, he had left his coat in the room.

A thought struck Nowi, one could call it a powerful urge.

Slowly she crept out of the bed and across the room to the coat hanger near the door, where Robin's coat rested, calling to her. She wanted to know what wearing such a thing felt like. She stood on her toes and reached in order to pull it off the hanger without accidentally ripping it, if such a thing was possible, as it was on the very top rung of the coat hanger.

It was quite heavy, really heavy actually. She would compare it's weight to that of a sword. She found it to be made of a fine silken material. It wasn't incredibly stretchy but it was quite sturdy. She pulled one arm through it and then the other. The coat, which went all the way down and slightly passed Robin's knees, nearly scraped against the floor when she wore it.

She could immediately feel the effects of the enchantment magic Robin had told her about. The coat warmed up fast with her in it, until it was sitting at a comfortable temperature that served to keep her warm. She, as a manakete, did not have the greatest body temperature regulation.

The dark purple coat had sleeves that opened out near the end, creating a cone-like effect. Whatever magic that flowed through the coat was not Light magic in origin, that was for sure. She couldn't feel a thing. Given it's design Nowi suspected that it wasn't made from the Anima school either.

Quickly, in case Robin came back at any time, she pulled the coat off realizing that Robin would probably not like it if she was rifling through his things. She had felt numerous objects within the pockets of the coat. Robin carried several books around with him, as well as whatever other miscellaneous things he regularly carried on his person.

Once again careful to not harm the coat, Nowi placed it back on it's spot with the coat hanger. She watched as it swayed from the disturbance. Nowi hoped Robin wouldn't be able to tell anything had bothered his coat. She knew that he valued that coat over nearly all else.

Once she was sure it wasn't going to fall, and that it was in the proper place, Nowi left the room in order to go find her own bath, and _not_ the one Robin was using.

 **A/N: hey it's chapter 3. For now the story is being updated pretty fast, but that is gonna end soon. I'm gearing up to go off to college and when I do the wait time for the chapters will probably extend to a full week. Enjoy the quick updates while you can, because I'm going to enjoy writing while I can.**

 **Now for all of you reviewers out there reviewing as guests, I thank you for the support but I can't give you all a more personal response unless you log in. Sorry about that, but I do appreciate the support it really helps to keep me going.**


	4. Slavers

"What'cha up to Robin? Boring stuff?" Nowi looked over his shoulder, "Yep. That's as boring as can be. You should come play with me. Ricken stopped playing with me, and only leaves his room for meals. He's studying or something. That's all he does anymore."

Nowi had barged into his room while he was busy drawing up various tactical plans. Well it was actually _their_ room and he was living in a shared space with her, and for some reason, all of his complaining was getting him nowhere. Nobody would help him remove her. Nobody would take her either.

Robin sighed, "This is important tactical paperwork that needs to be done before we are to set out into the fields of combat again. I can waste time later, after I get this work done."

She smacked him on the back of his head. With her sleeves of course, because she had taken to wearing long sleeves, and the one she had on right at that moment was long enough for her to slap him with the sleeves.

He heard a "Hmm" behind him, and could only assume that she was pouting like a child. Then, suddenly there was a wooden screeching sound, and Nowi was sitting in a chair next to him, bent over with her elbows on her knees, resting her chin in the cup of her hands.

"Well I'm not doing anything better right now," Nowi mumbled, as she was still resting her chin against her hands, "so why don't you tell me what you are doing, I need something to do."

Robin sighed, "Well you see, as best as we can tell right now, Gangrel is celebrating our defeat. He has been on the move towards a villa nearer to the Feroxi boarder. We won't know where exactly he is going, but we can tell that all he has with him is his honor guard. It's a force small enough that we won't need to get the army involved. Only the shepherds will have to go. Probably. The problem right now is that we aren't sure if he is actually moving to his villa or not. You know I say villa, but the location is much more akin to a small fortress. Anyway, we aren't sure, so I'm sitting here trying to think up something strategy-wise while I wait for the scouting report. Then I can begin to make real plans," Robin finished.

"Yeah I knew it. You are just wasting time, you busy body. You could be resting, relaxing, or playing games with me. Instead, you are in here, wasting time over tactics when you don't even know the enemy situation," Nowi said. She was quite grouchy now, "If you don't get up and get out of this room, I'll drag you out, and if I have to transform to do it, then so be it," she held out her dragon stone.

Robin sighed, and stood up from his work. He pushed his chair in and waited for Nowi to do the same. Of course she took her time, and so he sat and tapped his put while she scooted the chair across the room to the second desk. It made a very unsatisfying screeching noise across the stone floor.

When Nowi was done, he led the way out of the room, "So what are we going to do..."

Robin ended up doing nothing all day long with Nowi. They went and played a rather long game of tag with some local village children, among other things. The local cuisine was truly good. Lots of greasy, and meaty foods, and shockingly good ale. He had no desire to lose himself so early in the day, but a small mug wouldn't have hurt, Nowi joined him in the alcohol. He had to say it was a bit awkward, but he chose not to speak.

She looked incredibly young, far too young to be drinking. In Regna Ferox, there was, of course, no drinking age, and nobody looked their way. However, if they would have been in Ylisse, Robin was sure they would have, or rather he would have, gotten in some kind of trouble. Heck, she might have even passed for being of age in Ylisse. She looked very young but not that young. The public drinking age was fifteen after all. People could do whatever they wanted in the safety of their own homes, but publicly, those under their fifteenth year could not drink.

Nowi pulled him around all day long, and they were even spotted by some members of the shepherds, who were genuinely surprised to see him out of his room. They all, for the most part, knew how he was when it game to work. He could see sympathy in the eyes of Maribelle, and quite the opposite from Vaike, when he passed them by. Discretely as he could, so that Nowi didn't see, he mouthed a number of rude words in Vaike's direction.

Despite the war going on just over the border, the town was quite lively, which was very different from the Ylissian people as they learned of the war. The towns and villages became much more subdued in their daily work.

They passed by a rather large book store, and as they did, a group of children game rushing by.

"Do you want to play with us? We're gonna race," one of them asked Nowi.

Robin could see her brighten up, even brighter than usual at the offer. She was excited. Quickly she turned to him.

"Robin hold his for me will yah. Gotta beat these kids at a foot race," She said, and handed him a shining orb.

Nowi left a very confused Robin to hold her dragon stone as she ran after the children. What could he do? She was already gone. Robin sighed, and looked around, until his eyes locked onto the bookstore. With nothing better to do, Robin headed into the bookstore and began to browse around.

They had an entire wall dedicated to tactical history. Many were biographies of great generals and tacticians. They depicted the lives of the individuals and their greatest achievements through life. What he found at the shelves surprised him, for it was a copy of a rare treatise on tactics. _Seventeen ways to block a double edged sword._ It might have appeared to the uncultured as a simple and plain book, not about tactics, but about sword fighting.

Contrary to that it was actually the diary of a great tactician from times immemorial. It depicted battle ranging from great clashes of armies, to simple battles against bandits. The author went into great detail about his many strategical ploys, and true to its origin as a diary is was very realistic, including much of the author's feelings and convictions. The book wasn't for the faint of heart, and was a great source for people unaware of the horrors of war. It went far more into detail about the authors relationships with members of his army, and the loss of his comrades.

It was an instant buy for him, almost a steal, or rather he turned it into a steal, as he bartered with the store owner until he received an excellent offer for the book. He left the building satisfied with his new journal, that he would be intent to study in order to glean any information that he might. Now all that was left on his agenda was to find Nowi. Holding on to her incredibly precious Dragonstone made him nervous.

Of course, outside the store she was nowhere in sight. The children she had been playing with were nearby. He could see them from the store front.

Robin approached the children and asked, "Do you know where my friend went?"

One of the children stopped long enough to answer, "Don't know. I think down that alley. Momma says not to go there."

Robin sighed. It was probably a shady place that she had wandered into. He started walking towards it. Once he was inside of the alley he saw something.

At the end of the alley, on the other side, was a cart, and took cloaked men were trying to toss a struggling Nowi into the back of the cart. They had her limbs tied together, and a gag in her mouth.

The marauders saw him running, quickly and quietly towards them.

"Shit he's coming. Hurry get her in there. We can't lose this. You know how much she would make us. We could retire," they said.

As he was running at them, full speed, all stealth abandoned, and lightning crackling at his fingertips a third man mad his appearance, and suddenly Nowi was in the wagon and rolling away. The men jump in the back after her.

He launched his charged spell aiming for a wheel of the wagon, and missing horribly as the wagon hit a bump in the path and launched into the air.

Robin continued running feeling himself up, and realizing that he hadn't brought his sword. He didn't even have his spell book on his person. Without it, he barely had enough strength and focus of mind to launch a basic thunder spell. What he did have though, was the knife strapped to the inside of his boot. And he would need it.

He caught up to the wagon, before the horses were moving at full speed, and dove into the back of the wagon, fully startling his opponents. It was enough time to fire his single spell into the head of one of the perpetrators. His knife found its mark the skull of the second, and he ended up grappling with the third in the back. They rolled on the floor, and Robin had to be careful to not hit Nowi, who was watching everything from her spot on the floor. They had not blinded her with a cloth, so she got to see the bloody mess, and feel it too, as the man he had stabbed bled his brains out onto the wagon floor.

Robin had to say, that the experience of rolling around in a puddle of blood wasn't the greatest experience. Quickly he subdued the attacker. Then, he left through the front flaps of the wagon and crashed his elbow into the side of the man's temple. If he wasn't unconscious then he was dead.

Robin grabbed ahold of the reins, and slowed the horses to a stop. Then he moved back into the wagon and picked Nowi up, along with his knife, and carried her out of the wagon. He laid her down, untied her gag, and cut her bindings. Robin thanked the gods that he had thought to secure his hidden knife before going out.

He didn't realize how hard he was breathing until Nowi was holding onto him, and he could feel his chest push against her as he breathed.

"Sorry Robin. I should have kept my Dragonstone with me. This wouldn't have happened," Nowi mumbled through his cloak.

"Don't be sorry," Robin replied, as he reached up to hold her head, "it wasn't your fault, if anything would should have stayed together. Slavers wouldn't dare to attack someone in a group. So saying, it was my fault."

They stayed sitting together for some time, and in fact the blood had begun to dry and grow crusty when Nowi finally let go of him. While she got up and steadied herself, Robin released the horses from their tethers.

Then, he walked up to Nowi, "we need to work our way back to the city, before it's too dark and cold to make it back safely. We'll have to send somebody to clean this mess up in the morning. I'm sure the khans will accommodate. Do you think you can walk back?" Robin said.

"Yeah sure. I had some time to sit and recover. I can make it back to the city on my own two feet," Nowi responded.

"Yeah," Robin started walking, with Nowi beside him, "we should probably be discreet about reentering the city. We are both kind of covered in the blood of our enemies."

Nowi Snorted, "Did you have to say it like that?"

"Of course. Nothing like a little light humor to lighten the mood," Robin chuckled.

Together they made their way back to the city, just as evening was falling and the nightly chill began to set in. By the time they entered the city gates again, it was completely dark.

"You know what Robin?" Nowi asked.

"Huh," he responded.

"We could have flown back. I could have transformed. It would have been easy," she said.

"Huh," he breathed.

In the morning Robin went back out to the wagon with Frederick and a clean-up crew of Feroxi soldiers. Flavia had informed him that who they had been attacked by was a large group of slavers known as the Ezra group. They were prominent slavers in Regna Ferox, and were incredibly elusive.

Apparently nobody knew what the leader Ezra looked like. This convinced Robin that they weren't trying hard enough, because a well-trained spy could most definitely get intelligence on the slave group.

Perhaps he could sic Gaius on them. Enough candy could get that man to do anything, no matter how challenging, and he would succeed too. Well that was a thought for after the war. Permission from the khans would be required of course. They couldn't very well go wandering about through Regna Ferox without the leadership's permission.

Robin was just there to show them the location of the scene. The true work was being done by Frederick, and the cleaning crew, who would remove the bodies, and take possession of the wagon. Robin had to describe to him the event, the way that he killed them and the like. One of the cleaning crew members was a new soldier. Robin could tell, because he got sick at the sight of the dead, or perhaps it was the smell.

The smell of a dead rotting body was actually quite disgusting. It was horrible, and Robin could say that it was probably one of his least favorite smells in the world. It looked like the bodies had already been picked at by carrion flyers. They even had to shoo a couple vultures away before they could begin to prepare the bodies that Robin had brutalized.

By the time they were done and heading back to the capital city, it was already noon. He had been out there since dawns first light, so he was hungry. They didn't spend the whole time just prepping the bodies. They collected evidence, and did a small bit of tracking, because he hadn't killed all of them. One of the slavers had been left alive, and had made his way into the wilderness.

When it became apparent that the slaver was a bit too far gone for them to track safely, they headed back to the wagon and began working their way to the city.

After Robin was finally back in his quarters, he had to tiptoe around Nowi who was still sleeping. In his bed. Because they wouldn't give him a second bed, nor would they give him a separate room. He could swear that it was a conspiracy. They were just out to annoy him to no end. Nowi was fine to be around when he wasn't tired or busy. It didn't require much noise for him to get to work on his battle plans though. The scouts would be reporting soon. In the next day or two.

Once he had the scout reports he could fully and finally prepare for the end of the mad king. Even now, he wasn't really planning so much as running mental drills on himself. When he grew too hungry to ignore it, Robin left the room, quietly of course, and headed to the mess hall. There was always some kind of meal going on, given the eating habits of the various people within the colosseum. A small meal had him prepared to go out to the training yard. Or rather, it was the stadium within the colosseum, which, when not being used for competition was used as a training ground. From there he could run sword drills, and practice blowing things up without hurting too many people.

The rest of Robin's day went by as such: he drilled himself on swords, and then sorcery. After that, he sparred with a few soldiers, mostly Lon'Qu and Basilio's honor guard. They were great soldiers when it came to combat. Basilio only had one mage, whom Robin ended up in a small discussion of the elemental magics. The man was a fire user himself, but Robin preferred the more zappy kinds of magic. They discussed the finer points of using either type of magic, offering demonstrations as they went.

At some point Nowi figured out where he was and terrorized the troops trying to train. Nobody could really expect it when a massive golden dragon flies out of the sky and just sits there. Most of the Ylissian army had seen her many times, and thusly continued their drills, but for other members of the army, it was very different. He caught them all staring at her massive form. He didn't know why she hadn't transformed back into her more human form yet. It took a lot of mental energy to maintain her dragon form.

Not that she wasn't capable of indefinitely holding her draconic form, because given how old she was, he was certain she probably could. It was just easier for them to stay in human form. As he was sparring with a soldier, Nowi let out a massive roar, which startled his partner. Robin took advantage and proceeded to knock the man flat.

"Can't get distracted now. What would have happened if I was an enemy soldier?" he told the man as he helped him stand to his feet.

"Yes sir," was the man's only reply, to which Robin laughed.

The soldier, Nathan was his name, would have beaten him in a fair match one on one with just swords. Nothing less could be expected of Basilio's guard.

Once Robin was done, he took a ride on Nowi over to the mess hall's outer entrance, or rather, the colosseum entrance closest to the mess hall, which was, conveniently right by their room. Then he got to find out why she had been in her dragon form all day long. She had been in her nightgown. This confused him.

As he understood from his book, manaketies had a sort of magic to change their attire. It was one of their oldest tricks, and usually gave them their signature outfit, as it was quite unique looking. It was less of an outfit or articles of clothing, but more like a magical wrapping. The manaketies, over centuries, had adapted a protective spell to take the form of clothing, but in reality it was just magical armor. Their armor was unique to each individual manakete. The book didn't go into detail as to why each was unique. He didn't think he had ever seen Nowi use it. He knew that she got dressed in the morning the old fashioned way, just like the rest of them by putting clothing on.

He would have to ask her one day if he could see it. He was quite curious.

The evening went as it usually did. Every night everyone gathered at the mess hall to eat a good meal together. It always with some kind of bang. That night, the great ending was Sully flipping Vaike over a table. Needless to say; everyone went to bed laughing, and Flavia had to replace the table. Thus ended another long day.

Nowi always waited until he was solidly in bed before she decided to hop in. He could never get over how warm she was. Her body temperature was much higher than his own, and it sometimes made sharing the bed difficult. So he had managed to procure an extra set of sheets and blankets for himself. Then he could have his own blankets and not have to worry about being too incredibly close to her. The blankets didn't stop her from taking up all of the bed space with her small body. He was getting tired of fighting her for space all night long.

In the morning, while he was overviewing his tactics, one of the scouts finally returned. Someone was sent to retrieve him, and barged into the room. They showed no sense of sensitivity, in terms of how early it was in the morning. That was because it was Flavia, who barged into his room, woke up Nowi, looked at him. Then looked at her. Then, she looked at him and squinted, before shrugging.

"One of the Scouts has come back," she said.

"I take it that he just got back. You barged in here for that, when you could have sent a much quieter person," Robin responded.

Flavia just laughed, and motioned for him to come along. Robin sighed and got up from his desk to follow her out of the room, making sure to close the door quietly, as Nowi had pulled the covers over herself.

Flavia lead him to the war room, were he assumed the scout would be, along with Chrom, and Basilio. A number of other leaders and retainers would probably be there.

When they entered the room his predictions proved true. Every leader was there with their retainers. It made him wonder why he didn't have a retainer, or some form of student or squire. Well he wasn't technically a leader. His job was important, but he didn't even necessarily need a retainer. He definitely did not need a Frederick in his life. No way could he handle a crazy knight-butler who collected pebbles from out of his way.

As Flavia and Robin moved into the war room, the scout bowed low.

"Sir Robin, I have the report available," the scout said.

On the table were Robin's usual spot in the war room resided, was a pamphlet of notes.

"Sir, it was as you predicted. King Gangrel has taken up residence in his villa on the northern plains. With him he has not an army, but just his honor guard, some 80 men, as well as a host of servants. The terrain is somewhat rocky with dirt plains. To the east of the fortress is a forest, and to the northwest is a river. Across the river is a small fort, where there will likely be reinforcements waiting should we assault the king," he said.

Robin nodded, "thank you scout. You are dismissed. Go take a break, you deserve it. We'll be moving out soon if plans go well."

The scout bowed again, before promptly leaving the room.

"Alright what's the plan," Basilio said.

Robin grinned, "Calm down old man. I just found out about the layout of the land."

"Hey!" Basilio shouted.

"Calm down Oaf," Flavia said.

"Hey I didn't say that I didn't have a plan, the fortress with reinforcements just changed them a little bit. What I propose is that we sneak up on them in the night, and remove the fortress as a potential problem…" Robin started.

The talk went on into the day, and tactical plans were discussed, and Robin provided several points for possible strategies. He offered several tactical strategies from different angles that gave them different types of advantages. Eventually they settled on a strategy.

It was the originally proposed strategy of attacking the reinforcement fortress at night, and taking it over. They would only be taking the shepherds, and of course a couple scouts. They ended up leaving the organization of the troops to Flavia and Basilio. They briefly considered taking the whole army, but concluded that Gangrel would have plenty of time to escape if they brought an entire army along. Instead the Khans would send the troops on their way back to Ylisstol.

"Alright, so two days?" Chrom asked.

"Two days should be plenty for the shepherds to prepare and mobilize," Robin respond.

With that said, done, and organized, the war meeting was adjourned. Robin went back to his room to prepare. They would have a meeting closer to dinner, and maybe even at dinner to inform the shepherds.

 **AN: I apologize. It has been some time since I have given an update, but here it is. Chapter 4. My life has been pretty crazy recently. I've been evicted, and had to move, then I had to get settles in to the new house. Afterwards I went off to college, and have been very busy sorting my life into order. I'm not entirely sure that I'm done sorting yet, but I put it together enough to post a short chapter. Not only have I been sorting my life out though, I got a new computer, with more powerful capabilities, and I was finally able to run a GameCube emulator. So I got kind of busy getting to finally experience Path of Radiance. Soon I'll move on to radiant dawn. Then I'll have had a chance to experience all of the English titles.**

 **So have a good day, enjoy the read. Or don't it's up to you. Either way, enjoy your day, and your week. I'll hopefully be able to get another chapter out soon, but right now I'm backlogged by about 3 essays and ten other hobbies that I participate in besides writing.**

 **Finally, this chapter was just plain hard to write. I have five chapter fours sitting in a file. It took way too much time to write this on account of my dissatisfaction with the way this thing turned out, before I finally managed to write a semi-passable chapter. Everything was garbage. Not because I didn't write them well, but they just didn't turn out the way that they should have, and Robin was hyper OOC.**


	5. An End to the Beginning

The march to Gangrel's villa was largely uneventful. The march was slow on account of many of the shepherds being on foot, but they got there eventually. As a matter of fact, they got there at a perfect time. Late afternoon. Chrom ordered the shepherds to take rest and make camp in the trees. No fires were to be lit, and tents were instructed to be camouflaged as well as possible. They had the evening to get rest before the combat began at the darkest hour of the night.

Robin made sure that they packed plenty of tents for everyone, and thus, he was able to have his tent to himself yet again. And his cot. How he missed the peace and freedom that came with sleeping by himself. Nowi had pouted about it, but she complied in the end. He had to give her a small lecture about the rumors that were beginning to spread about him, _and_ her. He'd had to shut Vaike down a number of times, and Sully had started doing it too.

Just the other night, he had caught Sully telling Olivia _all_ about Nowi and him. It was full of the raunchy words Sully was known for, and he had walked into the conversation at the perfect time to see Olivia go redder than a cherry. That one took some explaining, and plenty of scolding.

It was best to not let his mind wander, especially not to such amatory thoughts. After all, he was attempting to rest before the battle in the coming night. After such thoughts were in his head it took some time before they managed to force themselves to escape his mind. Eventually, though, he was able to sleep.

Everyone was crouched into position. Virion was in place to begin hurling death at the night watchmen on the fortress wall. His shots were silent and deadly, and this was to be as quiet as possible. The mages, himself included, had prepared wind tomes. His normal book of spells did not harbor much wind magic. He would have to correct that in the future. They were keeping the mission as dark as possible. Therefore Nowi had chosen to not transform into her dragon form, as, being a divine dragon, her golden dragon form glowed.

She could perform some magic without the aid of her draconic form, though it was a far cry to what she capable of in full form. She could do simple and small spells, mostly coercive magic to manipulate the world. She could knock people of their feet and other such tricks. He would have to ask her and see if he could learn how to do some of them.

Frederick, paired with Chrom were at the front of the group, Miriel was preparing a particularly powerful wind spell that would blow the gates wide open as needed. Robin gave the signal, one particularly for Virion, and he began to fire with deadly accuracy at the guards that were nearby to the gate. All of the guards standing near the gate, and on the walls were dead in seconds.

Miriel then used the opportunity to blast the gates open. What it really did was bend the bars of the gate to such a degree that they were able to walk right through without having to open the gates or anything similar. The only product of the spell that might alert attention was the whistling of the wind, but the plains around the area were windy so it didn't stand out.

Quietly, everyone filed into the fortress, going down a short hallway in pairs, before falling in circumnavigating the inside along the walls. Once they were in the courtyard of the fort, Virion, and then Robin and Ricken dispatched the soldiers along the walls. The process after the courtyard was fairly simple. It was just a matter of moving through the inside of the fortress as fast as possible, all the while quietly removing anyone in the way.

Robin had planned it out so that Panne and Nowi got to work together it would be a good way for them to learn to get along. Defending someone while in mortal danger tended to instill trust pretty quickly. Robin hadn't been able to partner with Chrom in a while, but he had to say that he missed it. The two could just read each other's moves very well. It made combat much more fluid. Then again, saying that he hadn't partner with Chrom in a while was a dumb statement. They had been at a full war pace, with massive scale battles, not team combat operations.

Being able to take on foes in single combat was a great relief from the war, which had morphed into massive battles with lines of soldiers.

Completely clearing the fort, and then double and triple checking to make sure only took the shepherds a few hours. They wouldn't be able to keep the surprise for long, so as soon as they had the fort secured, they took some time to rest and recover from any wounds. Robin planned for them to attack as the sun was rising. That gave them some time to catch some more sleep, especially after some intense combat. Firstly though, his curiosity could not contain itself.

Robin went and found Nowi, who was sitting on a bench in the courtyard eating apples. Not an apple. She had a small pile of apples. Of course being courteous, she threw him an able as he approached, and he obliged, biting into the sweet fruit.

After he finished chewing he spoke, "So you know. I couldn't stop thinking about the applications of Manakete magic," she looked at him quizzically, "not your dragon fire, mind, but your other magics. The simple ones you can do while in human form."

Nowi promptly laughed.

"Haah! I could maybe, maybe teach you some things, but you don't look like a divine dragon to me. Most of the stuff I know is for divine dragons only. Its manipulation magic, for changing the world, given to us by Naga, the mother of all divine dragons. I don't know if it would be very fun though," Nowi said.

"What do you mean by maybe?" Robin asked.

"Well you see, to be able to do it at all you would have to have dragon blood, at least the faintest traces. You would be surprised by how many humans actually had some bit of the blood of dragons in them. Species interbreeding used to happen a lot. Chrom, for example, could probably do at least a little bit," Nowi explained, "But it wouldn't be fun, I'd rather play a game or something. Howabout counting the stars, we could look for constellations!"

Robin sighed.

"Well that's too bad, I was looking forward to it. I didn't think I would be able to learn it, and if I could, well it would not any time soon, or a very fast process," he said.

Nowi hopped up from her spot on the bench, "Well… I suppose we could at least check to see how affinite you are with it, but I need something in exchange," Nowi smiled at him.

Robin sighed, "What do you want?"

Nowi pointed up into the night sky, "What constellation do you think that is?"

"Is that not Hector the Great?" Robin asked.

"You could call it that, but it also goes by a much older name in the eyes of the Manakete. We call that constellation Durban, who was the predecessor to Hector." Nowi said.

Then Nowi laid herself down on the ground and faced the sky. She rested her head on her hands like a pillow.

Robin just sighed and got down on the ground with her. He looked up at the stars and Nowi told him about the stars. He didn't actually know very many of them, just of few that could be useful in navigation. It was hard to remember that they were just resting a few hours before going into combat again. In fact he did forget, for he had become lost in the starlight, and the Manakete who spoke of them.

Suddenly something, or someone was poking him with a stick.

"Hey get up. Kid, Bubbles it's time to get a move on."

Robin sat straight up, and smashed his forehead into the stick that had been poking him there. He rubbed the sore spot.

"Blue said that we were going to be moving out in about an hour," Gaius said.

Robin sighed, "Yeah I hear you. I'm getting up," he turned to Nowi and gently shook her, "Hey Nowi it's time to get up. Don't make me drag you around by your feet again."

Nowi herself sat straight up and pulled her shirt down, though it was covering her completely.

"Nope, nope I'm awake, don't do that. I'm fine," she was sporting a rather bright blush.

She was thinking of a few days ago, right before they had moved out, he had needed to drag her out of bed. It wasn't a pretty sight, Robin grabbing her by the ankles to pull her of the mattress. Of course the worst possible thing happened and he nearly exposed her by dragging her shirt almost completely off of her.

"I don't know what I'm missing, but you should get ready. We can't have our great tactician unprepared cuz he was sleeping with the kid," Gaius said, giving Robin a smirk.

All Robin could do was shrug, and think about how sore his back was from sleeping on the dirt. Not a feeling he was entirely unused to, but still unpleasant all the same, especially after a few weeks of rest at the khans' abode.

Robin got up onto his feet and gave a big stretch, before actually stretching. He had to loosen his muscles up for the coming battle. A couple of hops to get his blood flowing and he was good.

"No one finds out about that you hear me?" Nowi said.

Robin looked over to her, as she was now standing, "Of course, I won't tell anyone that I had to literally drag you out of bed," Robin smiled.

"That's not what I mean and you know it," Nowi pouted, "Just remember that _I am a dragon_ the next time you tease me like that," she turned her head away from him, "I'm not stupid enough to think that you did it on purpose, but don't make fun of me."

Robin sighed, "I apologize."

Nowi nodded, and began to walk off. Robin followed as they both were probably going to the same place. The fort's mess hall. Someone was doubtlessly preparing something on the plundered foods. Even if nobody was cooking, which he was beginning to doubt on account of the smell of something burning, there would be plenty of fruits and other prepared foods like dried and cured meats.

After a hardy breakfast, everyone gathered together to do a light morning warm-up. It constituted a light jog, and everyone split off to do a few drills, or spar against each other. Soon everyone was completely warmed up and ready for battle. Chrom called everyone to gather up.

Chrom cleared his throat, "Now everyone. Today is the final battle. It is a battle that will see peace returned to us, and Mad King Gangrel's defeat. Today will not bring us some paltry victory, but something that will sustain Ylisse's peace for many years to come. We all come from different backgrounds here in the shepherds, it is a wide cultural difference that gives us the great advantage of many different experiences. Now. Shepherds!" Chrom shouted, "nothing can stand in between the many ties that bind us together into one family. Who is with me today, as we see this through to the very end?"

"Yaaaaah!" it was the collective war cry of the shepherds.

"Form up shepherds let's do this thing!" Robin gave the command.

They all gave one last cry as the lines were formed. It was a strategy that Robin had formed. They looked somewhat disorganized. He had put people in odd places, temporarily of course. They would quickly form into a combat machine, but for now they looked like a ragtag bunch of mercenaries.

To show it off, Miriel and Ricken were in the front, alongside Frederick. Beside them was Vaike. He had put Sully and Stahl in the back alongside Chrom. To put it easily they were put in very odd and random places. It looked like they had prepared for battle by choosing the spot in the form that they were going to be in.

Once ready to marched out to the field, they flooded through the gates of their captured fort, sure of their victory. Across the river their morale fell though, as in the field in front of them, they could see an army. King Gangrel's private honor guard was standing ready.

Robin though quickly. He looked up and saw wyverns.

 _Shoot. The reports didn't say that the honor guard had wyverns. That must have been how they knew we were coming, Robin thought._

"Form up shepherds! Cavaliers do the arrow thing. Chrom take the lead with Kellam. Mages, healers get into position. Tharja do that curse."

Robin began to shout out rapid fire commands. The shepherds, used to his rapidly changing tactics, responded to his commands perfectly.

Tharja cast her spell and its effect was immediately seen in the enemy formation. Gangrel's honor guard immediately slowed down as they moved sluggishly, as if they had all instantly taken on their own body weight a second time.

The arrow of the shepherd's cavaliers crashed into the side of the lines, breaking through and slaying some of the mages and archers. Quickly they retreated from the crowd and charge back around to the shepherds' line. Then the lines hit.

Kellam, with Vaike and Chrom on either side of him crashed into the line of soldiers. The lines were broken and spread out, and it became somewhat of a game of cat and mouse, as the fights devolved quickly into one on one matches. This type of fighting had been Robins plan, as it was what the shepherds excelled at. Lon'Qu was far more of an efficient fighter, for example, in a duel like setting. He could dispatch his foes in seconds. The fighting force in front of them threw a paltry resistance to the shepherds' advances.

The men they were facing were the most highly trained in all of Plegia. It was a true example of what morale did to an army. These soldiers in front of them, loyal as they were to the king, were shaken by Emmeryn. While a few of the soldiers outright surrendered, dropping their weapons and taking a knee as the shepherds passed by. They lowered their heads in preparation to be slain anyway. Those who surrendered were to be spared by Chrom's order.

As they neared Gangrel, his remaining loyal guardsmen managed to position themselves into some semblance of formation. Instantaneously the fighting grew much more grueling. Robin called for lines to form, and they began forcing the enemy soldiers backwards.

Far behind the Plegian soldiers, Robin could hear the Mad King Gangrel frothing his anger was so fierce. He began shouting orders and threats simultaneously. Anyone who surrendered would forfeit the lives of their families and be sent to work camps. This was part of the reason that the Mad King needed to be put down. It was for his inhumane acts against his subjects.

Robin gave an order, and suddenly the order of the lines slipped and changed formation, until the shepherds and maneuvered behind the enemy lines. Then Gangrel was isolated from his troops by a wall of the shepherds. Chrom nodded to him and moved to face the king. A battle between the rulers of nations would be a powerful message, much more so than if the shepherds had surrounded and executed the Plegian ruler.

Chrom pointed his sword at Gangrel, taking a dueling stance. From his scabbard, Gangrel drew a weapon that Robin was unfamiliar with. At least, he had never seen one before. He knew about them, but they were incredibly rare, precious even. One wouldn't trade it for its weight in gold. That would be a scandalous price. Gangrel was wielding a Levin Sword. Very few of them yet existed, and one was in the possession of the Plegian royal family.

Gangrel began laughing, though what he said after is loud shriek was beyond Robin. He couldn't tell if the man was too far away to hear clearly, or if he was truly speaking nonsense. Suddenly Chrom charged Gangrel, who stood there at the ready, for he needed not to move, considering the powerful magical spell that his weapon could conjure up. He would, of course, move out of the way of Chrom's blade, but not before releasing a devastating attack of his own, that forced Chrom to predict and dodge.

Robin turned his attention back to the rest of the shepherds, who were fairing very well against the best and brightest in Plegia, in terms of combat ability. Many men lay on the ground dead, and just as many had taken to their knees to signify their resignation and surrender. Soon all that would be left was the shepherds, Robin surmised, until he was surprised, yet again that day, for the crowd of soldiers lined against each other suddenly stopped at the loud resounding crash of steel on steel, and Robin didn't even have to look to know that Chrom had closed the gap between himself and Gangrel.

Both warriors, if one of them could be called such a thing, matched each other blow for blow. This sudden spectacle before them cause the Plegian royal guardsmen, and shepherds alike to forget themselves and observe. From were Robin was standing, he could see that Chrom was going to win. Gangrel already had a number of nicks and bumps, bleeding, battered, and bruised the mag king continued until the only sounds on the field were the clashing of blades, as the two leaders of nations fought it out.

Suddenly Gangrel made a fatal mistake, and in a flash it was over. The Mad King was impaled on the exalted prince's divine blade, even from his distance away, Robin could somehow hear those last words, as if they were designated for his ears only.

"I… shall die alone… as every man…lives and dies… alone," his words were but a whisper in the wind.

There were no great cheers for or of victory as the battle swiftly concluded. The mood had turned instantly somber and sour at the end of the Mad king. Chrom allowed for the king to fall to the ground lifeless before he carefully extricated Falchion from his chest.

What Chrom did next was a surprise it everyone, though not an unpredictable occurrence to end of a battle between kings. Chrom took a knee to pay he respects for the man. The rest of the Plegian forces fell onto one or two knees and lowered their heads in reverence.

Over the sound of the wind, the only sound to be heard, Robin could hear Frederick speak.

"Collect your dead, your dying, and your wounded. You will not be harmed, taken prisoner, nor questioned. We will extend to you time to give the fallen proper rites, but we will be temporarily laying claim to the Villa, for a night or at most two," Frederick directed.

These were words that Chrom and Robin had instructed him to say, as he had probably the most commanding voice among the shepherds. It would require Chrom to get up, and ignore the respect he was attempting to give to the king. Robin himself, just wasn't too much of an imposing figure, and he knew that. He could plan circles around almost anybody, but as far as being an imposing leader-like figure he was not the greatest choice.

Slowly those of the Plegian side gathered together and began combing the field for their dead. It wasn't a matter of sorting out the bodies, but rather of just taking the time to get to every single one of them. In that matter Robin had made it easy for them, being that none of the shepherds had died, or received serious injury.

Robin went about with Lissa, and assessed the various shepherds. While he couldn't necessarily heal them of their injuries, it gave him a chance to speak with every member personally, and inquire as to their state of mind. He liked to know how they were all doing, and likewise this could be one of his last chances to speak with all of the shepherds again, as they were likely to split apart once all the post war festivities were ended.

Later that evening, Robin was approached by Chrom, with a rather serious matter. Not one of a dire nature, but still something to be cause for joy. Chrom approached him to ask a very important question.

"Robin, I have something to ask of you. I am going to wed Sumia later tonight, and I was wondering if you could be a witness? I've also asked Frederick, and Libra to be there, so do not worry," Chrom said.

Robin grinned, his smile spreading from one ear to the other, "Of course Chrom, but I must say that you are a rather impatient man."

In front of his eyes Chrom turned red, and laughed in order to hide his embarrassment.

Chrom coughed, "I intend to hold the ceremony as the sun is setting, on the balcony overlooking the field," Chrom pointed up. The balcony he was speaking of also overlooked the courtyard. Much like the rest of Gangrel's villa, it was over grown with plant life, though it appeared to have once been beautiful as there were many flowers overflowing from it.

"I'll see you then," Robin said, before walking off to go find someone of his own.

He didn't make too far though, at most maybe a few minutes, before, instead of him finding her, she found him. She found him in an interesting way. He was walking past one of the many overgrown bushed in the yard of the villa, when it happened, and all of a sudden he was blind, for someone had thrown his hood over his eyes. That said someone was an obvious person. He could tell who it was by their weight.

Of course he would never tell her that, though it was unlikely for her to over react. Manakete had a much heavier bone mass than humans did, so while she was pretty small for a human, she was quite weighty, he was lucky that he managed to maintain his balance. While she wasn't exactly twice the weight that he would expect from someone her size it still caught him off guard that she was more than what she looked.

"Nowi," he shouted in shock.

"Aww, how'd you know it was me?" she said.

She still didn't get off of him, though she allowed him to put his hood down. Instead of hoping off of him, she wrapped her legs all the way around him, and locked her fingers together, making sure to not choke him.

"Because," Robin said.

"Because why?" Nowi pressed.

He sighed, "Why do you think? Who else in the shepherds would do this to me?" Robin answered.

Nowi rested her chin on his shoulder, he could feel her talking to him as she moved her jaw.

"Iduknow. Tharja? I bet she would. She likes to play these kinds of games," Nowi said.

"Don't get me started. It was hard enough getting her to stop stalking me, and I'm sure she still does anyway. That's beside the point, she's quite a bit bigger than you," Robin sighed.

"Are you making fun of me Robby, because that's not very nice," Now said, and she jutted her chin into his shoulder ever so slightly harder.

"Not at all just the facts. She is taller than you, and her arms are longer. She also wears very… different clothing, than you, that alone would have let me know who was holding on to me," Robin reasoned.

"I see, well how about we play a game then. Because my feelings are hurt," Nowi said.

Robin sighed, "If you want, but I won't be able to play for very long, I have something to do with Chrom in a bit. It's kind of important."

"Fine we can play a game of riddles then," Nowi said, "that will be pretty quick. Alright I'll go first," Robin sighed as Nowi continued, "okay. Okay. I'll go with an easy one first. What disappears the moment you say its name?"

Robin had to think for a moment, as he did not know this one.

"Okay. Is it silence?" he said.

"Bingo, right on the money!" Nowi said, still grabbing onto him from behind. He wasn't supporting her, she was just grappled to him.

"My turn. Alright I'll take your easy riddle and raise you one hard one," Robin raised a finger in the air and took on a whimsical tone, "You saw me where I never was and where I could not be. And yet within that very place, my face you often see. What am I?" he questioned.

Contrary to his expectations though, Nowi was quick to respond.

"A reflection," she said.

"Oh. Well darn, I thought that might have been a hard one," He said.

"Yeah well because you were mean, I'm gonna be too. Are you ready? What do you throw out when you want to use it, but take in when you don't want to use it?" Nowi said.

"You really are a mean one aren't you? You know what. Why are we even doing this?" Robin said.

"Because it's fun," she answered simply.

"It's fun for you because you are good at them. Tell me then, because I don't know that one." Robin said.

Nowi answered, "an anchor! I'll tell you what, since you didn't get that one I'll give you another one free of charge"

Robin sighed, "Sure Nowi."

"Okay. Here goes. Of no use to one, yet absolute bliss to two. The small boy gets it for nothing. The young man has to lie or work for it. The old man has to buy it. It's the baby's right, the lover's privilege, and the hypocrite's mask. To the young girl, faith; to the married woman, hope; to the old maid, charity. What is it?" she said.

"What?" Robin said, "That's hardly and easier one-" he was interrupted though, by a soft warmth against his check, and then Nowi was off. He looked around him, but she was far too gone for him to attempt to catch up to her.

His face went bright red once he understood what she had done. Robin sighed. He noticed the time, and that it was nearly at sundown, and began to make his way to the balcony, all the while making an attempt to clear his head. He didn't really know what to think, or what to do. Either way, he had something to get done, therefore he quickened his pace in order to make it there in time.


	6. Celebratories

**A/N: Okay howdy folks habby new years to yew. Here I am and I am back for some intermittent amount of time. I'm proud to bring you the sixth chapter in my dear story, "An Old Love" which I do hold dear to myself, yet cannot seem to stay motivated to do. Honestly my hobbies number at about 10 too many and I am unable to manage them all. Either way, this chapter, and maybe the next one too will probably be a bit on the short side as I attempt to get back into writing and figure out how to write like me again. Have fun, and I hope the new year treats you all well.**

As it turned out, Chrom's "wedding" to Sumia went off without a hitch, though Robin didn't know why they bothered having their wedding, because quickly after the shepherds had returned to Ylisstol- really, less than a month- they had their public wedding. Really Robin loathed having to be there. While he was happy to accompany his good friend on his wedding night, Robin almost disliked the nobles more. It really wasn't all the pomp and snobbish foppery that he disliked about the nobles of Ylisstol, but rather their scheming poking into his business. It was all grappling for more power, and if they could gain a foothold against him, who was close to Chrom, then they could gain more grip in the courts.

It was difficult to trust them and their subtle efforts at political control. He supposed attempting to worm their way into the mind of the tactician was something of a priority, especially one of his status, whom had simply appeared out of nowhere to lead the shepherds to victory. He was an unknown factor, and he could completely upset the balance of the nobility.

Of course it wasn't Chrom who had warned him to be on his guard, but his now wife, who had given him the warning as to the dangers of his new and heroic status. Sumia's warning had ensured that he did not drink too heavily at the public party, lest he dole out information that need not have been spoken.

There would be time for much more open merrymaking at the private party that had been in planning for the shepherds. Nonetheless he could barely wait to go and actually unwind. Happy was he was for the royal couple the nobility kept him on edge, as he expected that they always would if he stayed in such a vicinity to Chrom, and he suspected that he would. He figured that becoming completely inebriated was the best way to go about preparing for what lay ahead of him.

Later in the evening, maybe one could even call it night, and Robin had shooed away the last petty official searching for his familial origin or some such, really the poor man was one of the last to leave after Chrom had given his dismissal speech, signifying the end of the festivities.

The only ones left in the room at that point, and finally, as many of them thought, were the shepherds. Everyone turned silently towards Chrom expecting some kind of speech or word from him.

Chrom coughed, "Okay. Well this is a good time I guess to bring the good news. You all are free to remain in Ylisstol and take up residence in the Shepherds' barracks. It's a job that is open for you all and it will definitely keep you busy as we fix up the military, and repair the countries. The military was never focused on the 'smaller' issues of the people any way such as brigandry, slavery, and such, which will be your duties, if you wish to take them up for-"

"Hey Chrom," Vaike interjected, "I don't mean to interrupt except I do. This is supposed to be a party celebrating our victory and your wedding. Cool off."

Chrom coughed, and there were some quiet chuckles in the crowd of shepherds, "as I was saying, and yes Vaike we will get to that, the shepherds will not go disbanded and unemployed for some time yet. And one final thing," this was the part Robin has been expecting, as he had already spoken to Chrom about it in private, "Robin, come on up here," Robin did as Chrom asked.

When he got up next to Chrom, the kingly man clapped him on the back, "This man," Chrom started, "has seen us through many tough times, and I don't think I would be remiss if I gave him the thanks he deserved. That is of course, that I am offering him an official position as chief of Ylisse. It's about time that the old one retired anyway."

While Robin had expected Chrom to announce it to many people, the fact that he was, meant that Robin almost couldn't refuse -though he had been somewhat on the fence about it- for fear making shame of himself and his now ruler.

"Of course Chrom," Robin smiled, "It would be an honor, but don't tell me that you just don't want to have to deal with the paperwork as we move forward."

Chrom cleared his throat, "of course not Robin… I couldn't dump that all on you, you can have an assistant if you like. Heck, I bet Tharja would do it for free!"

Everyone in the room was laughing now, as some of the scandals with Tharja had been public happenings during the campaign, short as the campaign was.

Chrom spoke quickly, "that concludes the official business. Let the party begin!"

Before Chrom had even finished speaking Vaike was already topless, and Sully was pouring a mug of ale over the top of his head. Cheers range out, and the chaos of a Shepherds party began. For the sake of saving on materials, Chrom had had sturdier tables put in place for the party, the mugs were made of metal, the tables were made of metal, the chairs were made of metal, and a small amount of wire fencing was being installed quickly over all of the windows.

Soon the royal party room, as some called it, was no better than an unrefined bar, and gave way to the betting, drinking games, and yes, brawls, that were involved. Luckily for them, there were a number of skilled healers among the group, one of which who would stay sober and prevent any disasters from befalling.

All said and done, many tables and chairs, while not completely shattered due to their material, were folded and bent at odd angles from the blunt force inflicted on them. Libra was definitely a busy man that night, fixing broken bones, and teeth, as well as a few bloody head wounds.

There was a reason that the shepherds did not have their own private parties.

The next couple of weeks went very slowly for Robin. There was, as he predicted, plenty of paperwork and organization to be had at the behest of his sanity. As the chief tactician that he was, he had plenty of underlings to assist with note running and such, but ultimately he was on his own as far as moving things around went.

Chrom left him in charge of the relief efforts towards the Plegians as well as writing out sums of money to be distributed to the families of all fallen soldiers. The list was extensive and frankly it was something of a depressing reality for him. It made all of the deaths that had happened seem much heavier as he read out their family names, wrote a short a curt letter, and attached a note to be sent to the treasurer to enclose some small amount of money.

This arduous and depressing work strengthened him in knowing that, while he would always work masterfully as a tactician on the field of battle, his job as a tactician entailed far more than simply ordering troops about, or planning troop movements. This was perhaps the second heaviest of tasks, and helped him to not make light of the soldiers he did his best to treat not as chess pieces, but as living and breathing men and women. Sadly, he knew there would be many, many more days similar, as he could only process so many names in a day, especially since he had taken to personally writing every letter, which Chrom had told him that he did not have to.

Because of his work he didn't leave his office much, but it wasn't for a lack of trying, he left as often as he could without jeopardizing the finishing of his work in a timely manner, and he did want it done, so he could get into the kind of routine work he would be doing for years to come. He didn't see the shepherds too often, but then again, not all of them had stuck around for long, and even then some were only staying until things calmed down. The original members were of course all there, they hung around the barracks in boredom when they weren't out saving some village or small town from outlaws.

It eventually became apparent to Robin, why Chrom and Sumia had married with such sudden haste after so many months of tension and military campaigning. Robin would occasionally see her in the long hallways of the castle or out about in the gardens, or even when she came to watch Chrom beat him into the dirt on the sparring grounds. After first he wasn't so sure, and that perhaps the royal life was treating her well, as far as food was concerned, but given more time it became obvious.

The official announcement came to the public and confirmed what Robin thought, but did not say, which was that Sumia was with child, and would, in time, give birth to the next heir to the throne.

The queen's pregnancy prompted in him a curiosity to learn of the customs of Ylissian succession, especially considering who the late exalt had been. In reading the text, Robin found that a shift in succession rules had changed after a brief civil war some 200 years prior which prompted the rise of the first female exalt.

Really- history was something that fascinated him. And he moved on from Sumia's romantic books, and pushed into something more of resemblance to textbooks one might find in the royal affiliate college. It was an odd shift at first but nonetheless fascinating for his mind. Chief among the texts that he read from was a book that seemed to grow of more importance to him by the day, which was his text on manaketies. Which, for some reason, continued to draw his interest. In the royal library Robin also found a similar text on the Taguel, which he took and read with similar gusto.

He felt that perhaps, being able to understand the different species that existed in the world would allow him to be a much more effective leader in his position. In fact much of the texts that he read held similar back ended purposes. Robin felt a need to learn about the world around him that he had forgotten, and thus he studied everything from politics to geography and biology in his downtime.

Really it was an unexciting life he was beginning to lead as a tactician in the castle. There was little to any activity, and he had been repeatedly tempted to join in on Frederick's morning fitness hour. He always managed to stop himself just before he was about to leave his room and do it, reminding himself of the regret that he would feel, despite the temptation of getting his blood pumping. He still ran drills as a weekly practice in the training yard, so as to not become dull and weak of body and muscle.

His dull life, if you could call his constant business dull, was quite fulfilling. After the initial shock of after war reparations, his work load eased off. As he became more comfortable with his newfound tasks he began to accompany Chrom to meetings of court, as well as the few hours every day when he had time to see and meet with the people as they came to him with their needs. Many of those hours were wasted on lords of the land and their petty squabbles over territory and other properties. Unfortunately for Chrom, these were the kind of people that Robin knew he disliked, yet neither of them could say that the nobles were particularly terrible at what jobs they had.

Robin could easily say that he did not envy the daily toils of being the Exalt, especially for a man of Chrom's stature and upbringing. Many advisors and learned men were brought to him in order to teach him matters of the court, such teachings which he had not been privy to in his younger years, beyond the most basic of things, of course.

The exalt had not expected to be crowned ruler of his nation, and instead had spent much of his life learning the ways of war, as it was, he was a capable tactician on his own, yet still a much better leader. Robin could see he took to the life of the courts with as much effort as he could possibly muster, and used Robin as a punching bag to unwind when he could. Robin didn't mind too much as it was a good time for him to spend time with his good friend.

The time flew by, or it seemed to do so, and suddenly, one day at around noon Lissa near literally popped in his room, and verbally dragged him out into the halls before he could even ask why. When she gave him room to speak it was, of course, the first thing he said.

"Why?" Robin said (of course).

"Sumia's giving birth sometime soon."

"And why do I need to be there?"

"Because," Lissa said, "there has to be witnesses. Haven't you been studying? I know you have."

Robin just sighed and rubbed his forehead as he blushed.

"Why does it have to be me?" he said.

"Because. Chrom wants you there, and he trusts you. Plus you'll get to see the queen nearly naked, what's not to like?" Lissa said.

Robin stopped in his tracks, "Okay first of all there's all lot to not like there. Also, Lissa… seriously? She is the queen. Plenty of reason to not look at her, she's the wife of a man that I respect, and also, she is your sister, technically."

"Just shut it and come on. You won't be the only one there you know."

That was how Robin spent the rest of the day in a loud room with 20 other people, and a very unhappy queen.

He couldn't honestly say to himself that getting to witness the birth of new life into the world didn't have some kind of magic to it, also Lissa had lied to him about the naked part- thankfully. Still it was a very hot an uncomfortable set of hours rife with tension and the muttering of some select nobles. Still it was something else, and as he had waited in that room he could help but let his mind wander and realize how much time had passed since he had first started his role as the royal tactician of Ylisse.

How time seemed to fly by, and it really did fly it had been less than a year, yet it felt to him as if he had been doing it for a truly long time. Soon it would be spring in Ylisse, and as the country prepared for the spring festival, so too would they be celebrating the birth of the Exalt's daughter. It was a rather twofold celebration. After the baby, Lucina, had been settled in, which really didn't take too long, maybe a day or two, celebrations were prepared and the whole of Ylisstol would feast upon such a say. Robin, with Chrom's help for once, wrote out letters to be send by the fastest couriers to furthest reaches of the continent in order to pull in any remaining shepherds.

Even from his castle balcony he could see how hectic the city looked. It was overcrowded as people brought in family and friends to celebrate and participate in the parade. Robin believed the public parade would help solidify the people's love for Chrom as the new exalt, even more so than the love his people already expressed for him reminiscent of their love for his late sister and his victory in the war.

All of these events and preparations felt all too rushed for Robin, considering how slowly such big events tended build up to in the kingdom, but then again, he had never been witness to the celebrations of the birth of royalty. Robin's temporary role as security manager for this big event was rather stressful, as over the next few days he had made a point of knocking as much crime out of the city as possible, as well as initiating a small clean-up and dress-up effort of the poorer areas of the city.

Robin had visited the less well kept areas of Ylisstol, and hoped to someday change the image those places presented to the public, this was just a perfect excuse to do just that, and help show off to the arriving dignitaries from Plegia and Regna Ferox.

Flavia and Basilio would be there, and, though no new king had been chosen quite yet for Plegia, a few of their more powerful nobles would be visiting as a show of good faith.

Soon Robin had compiled a task force of local soldiers and even a few of the castle guardsmen to assist in the cleaning up of the city. Everyone in the city was taking up brooms to sweep of the cobblestone roads, and the dirt and mud roads of lower districts were cleaned and pathways of wooden boards were lain down over every muddy and dirt path except for the alley ways, which were left mostly as they were.

The jails were brimming with new occupants as criminals were apprehended and imprisoned for a time or given a hasty fine for their misdeeds. The amount of unchecked crime being called forth was quite disturbing for Robin, and as he was discussing it with Miriel in the libraries one night she had given him an excellent idea, which he would put front to Chrom once the business had all died down.

In preparation for his plan, Robin recruited Vaike to assist him in fixing up the town. It was a good way to groom the man for what he had planned, and after making sure Vaike was okay with it he decided on ensuring that his plan happened, because Ylisstol really needed an official force of soldiers to keep track of all the crime, rather than just making use of the word of mouth given by citizens, and then acting in slow response with city guardsmen. Vaike would lead this new group.

Soon the city was as clean as it could reasonably get and the castle guest rooms were full of foreign dignitaries. Lissa assured him that future celebrations of this caliber would not be so formal in their attraction to guests. The first born was apparently, quite simply, a great cause for celebration.

Soon the day for the celebratory parade was upon them all, and Robin was seated atop a royally bred steed not dissimilar from Chrom's own horse. He was to the Exalts's left, and to his right was Sumia mounted atop her pegasus. Behind them all was a following of Frederick's handpicked knights all in nearly literal shining armor, so pristine was the polish of the metal. Behind them were the lines of nobles and visiting royals. Robin could even see Basilio and Flavia showing of with their chariots, which he didn't even know that they had or used. At the back of the parade were the shepherds, who Chrom had outfitted all in impressive gear and armaments to show off the heroes of the last war, which no one had had time to celebrate beyond small celebrations after the end of war chaos.

Ahead of them, Frederick himself carried the standard of the royal family, the massive flag embroidered with the mark of the Exalt in blue, gold, and white sat atop a sizeable pole to display it to all eyes.

Robin shifted in the seat of his saddle, somewhat uncomfortable wearing the ceremonial regalia whilst atop a horse. Nonetheless it didn't bother him so much as to prevent his good mood and cheer from showing.

Ahead of them Frederick kicked his horse into slow motion, and the parade began. As soon the Ylissian people saw the standard of the royal family, the crowd erupted from a low rumble into deafening cheers that drowned out all other sound. The force of the crowd's excitement couldn't help but to bring out the best in Robin as he followed alongside Chrom, and waved to the people with the biggest smile he couldn't help but to muster.


	7. Some Odd Situations

Chatpoter 7

Robin woke up the day after the celebration to find that he was unable to sit up in his bed. He looked around blearily in order to find the reason why, and it took him a minute figure not what, but who, because "who" was under his blankets and lying on top of him was the question. Which was why he couldn't find them. He knew who was there, or who was most likely there.

Robin didn't know any other manaketies.

"Nowi we talked about this," he groaned.

She did not wake but stirred slightly in her sleep.

Robin needed to figure out how she did this without him waking up.

Carefully and gently as he could, Robin rolled the heavy little manakete off of him and got up, he put on some slippers and threw is coat over his halfway decent sleepwear. It would be good enough. Robin headed down to the dining hall to pick up some food, and if he managed to catch Chrom before the Exalt got into his daily duties he would be asking a few questions.

Thankfully for Robin, the young Exalt and his wife were at table with their very young and normally loud daughter, who Sumia insisted on caring for herself as much as possible. Thankfully again Lucina was busy suckling at her mother to be loud. Robin tried to ignore what little of the queen that he could see.

"Chrom I have questions for you," he said gruffly, as he sat down next to the Exalt.

Sumia chuckled, but otherwise said nothing.

Chrom gave Robin the fakest smile the royal tactician had ever seen and said, "Why whatever do you mean… Robby?"

At this point Robin knew that Chrom knew.

"You let Nowi into my bedroom last night. May I ask why, you know we've been having an issue about this. It's indecent."

Chrom snorted, "Indecent my royal ass, you basically all but lived with her for at least a month."

Sumia gave Chrom a light tap, " Honey don't use rude language around our daughter," she jutted in, "she doesn't need to be picking any of that language up at such a young age."

"O-of course dear, whatever you wish," Chrom said.

"Don't avoid my questions Chrom. Why did you let her in?" Robin sighed.

Chrom shrugged, "I didn't let her in your room, I just gave her directions to your room, and she probably got one of your guards to give her the key."

Robin lifted and eyebrow, "So my guards, who are under orders to not let anyone in unless I've given them permission to enter, let her in. As I slept, a privilege that maybe two or three people have outside of the royal family. I assure you Nowi isn't one of them."

Chrom shrugged again, "Who's going to stop her? She's a divine dragon. She is one of the highest and most revered creatures in the Nagan orthodoxy."

Robin always seemed to forget that about her, but he also hadn't grown up on the teachings of Naga like nearly every good citizen of Ylisse.

"Well damn, I always forget about that. I know she's a manakete and all, but not all of them are from the divine bloodline," Robin sighed.

End of conversation.

Of course his guards would be religiously powerless to stop a divine creature like Nowi- that is until they knew her better. He might have to give them specific instructions to not allow Nowi in. Then she might throw some kind of childlike fit, and they would end up letting her in anyway. It wasn't like he could stop her from just flying up to his balcony and going through those doors, which didn't have any locks on them.

Ultimately he decided to try and get his guards to keep her out, all the good that it would do.

It was at that moment, as Robin was silently eating and thinking up solutions to his new dilemma, that the object of his issue appeared in the doorway of the dining hall. She showed up wrapped in his blankets with her hair bent in every odd angle.

"Good morning… Robb-Robb…," She yawned, "Robin. What's for breakfast?"

Robin turned to her and crossed is arms, "You're up early."

"Yeah," she rubbed her eyes, "I fell off of the bed, or something, iduknow I woke up on the floor," her voice was low and crackly.

Nowi settled down in the seat next to him, fairly ignoring his glares. Quickly a servant came buy and placed a platter of food before the little manakete before giving curtsey and moving back to the edge of the room.

Nowi placed her face, cheek first, on the table and looked up at Robin. There was mischievous pleading in her eyes.

"Robin feed me, I can't take my arms out of the blanket," Nowi complained.

"No" Robin sighed, "Do it yourself."

"I can't it's too hard when I'm sleepy," she stated, giving him an impressive fake yawn.

Chrom was quietly snickering behind him. Robin turned about and gave in a deadly warning that promised pain and paperwork. The Exalt didn't stop.

All that Robin could think was, _Why Me?_

"Aaah," she expressed, "This is where the food goes Robin, aaaaaaaaah," her mouth was wide open.

Robin stood up and began walking away, he had to go to his office anyway, and plan a way to get Chrom to be required to look over and sign a bunch of official paperwork. He also did have some work to do in light of the end of the celebration or at least the back end of the celebration. He wasn't sure that the celebrations would stop for another day or three, at the very least the clean-up/security crew would have to be there to supervise, so he needed to make sure that the proper people were notified and given the proper permissions and paperwork to carry out their jobs.

Honestly it felt like he wasn't even doing the job of a tactician anymore, very little of his job involved the movement of the military or other defensive units such as the royal guard. He assisted in helping Frederick organize castle and outer wall patrols on occasion but that was about it, besides crunching numbers as far as the supplying of the military went until they could all be given official notices of the disbanding of the army. It was an incredibly slow process to make sure every soldier was relieved of duty properly, and it all had to go through him.

Already in thought, he didn't notice Nowi getting up to follow him, ignoring her breakfast. Until, that is, she said something

"What are we doing today Robin," she said, following behind him.

Robin, shocked out of his complaintive thoughts turned to look at her.

"When do you even get back to Ylisstol? I figured I would have seen you sooner. Also I'll be going to my office to work I've got a few things to get done."

Nowi pushed her forehead into his arm, "That's boring you need to do something fun for once, otherwise you'll turn into some old smelly guy, like those weird nobles always visiting Chrom," she exaggeratedly threw her head side to side, still swaddled in his thick blanket.

Robin groaned, "What do you want to do, then? I'll probably be done around, or a little after noon."

His work load for the next while wouldn't be terribly difficult or time consuming, just intensely boring to work through.

He observed that Nowi's continence instantly brightened up. There was a solid glimmer in her eyes, changing from subtly obvious mischief to excitement. He quietly suspected she wanted him to know she was teasing him, yet he never voiced his thoughts openly.

"Great, excellent, fabulous!" she exclaimed, "I was thinking we could look around town and try some stuff out before all the fun ends. You know this isn't the kind of thing that happens all the time. I'll see you later."

Nowi waddled off, still under his blanket for some odd reason. She didn't give him any time to complain or compromise before she was gone down a corner, going in the opposite direction that his office was in. He just shook his head and moved off to go get his work done. It was easy to get her off his back, figuratively, and in the past, sometimes even literally.

 **(In a dramatic voice) Later, in Robin's office…**

Nearly half of the way through with his work and it was suddenly stopped short, and for once it wasn't Nowi's fault. Seated in a plush chair in front of him was the young daughter of Lord Ferris. A lord in charge of a moderate size of land near the south-eastern coast of Ylisse. Ferris had attempted to suit them together in the hopes that Robin would begin courting his daughter.

Robin had to say that he definitely didn't dislike the girl, though she was some years younger than him, he suspected, for he didn't know his own actual age. This was perhaps their fifth meeting. The lord brought his daughter whenever he visited the capital to discuss matters with Chrom, typically those of a more economic origin. Their family was, for a time, known for their exportation of iron, yet in recent years the lord had also moved into assisting with providing trade of more perishable goods, namely fish.

Perhaps in time he might consider the young lady, Jordane, suitable, but he had no intentions towards marriage for anyone as of yet in his life. Nonetheless she was both pleasant company, and knew he had no such intentions for her, merely she did as her father wished, which was respectable in its own way. Social duty was an odd thing, he had come to find.

Chrom never told him when Lord Ferris was coming, though Robin had checked past records and found that the lord planned weeks in advance, and Chrom knew of Ferris' intentions for his daughter, but had seen fit not to warn Robin initially.

Spending time with her was pleasant enough, and somewhat of a refreshing taste compared to the usual visitors and attendants of the castle. Lady Jordane reminded him somewhat of Maribelle, had she no amount of incredible pomp.

Their conversations waged every which way when she came to visit. Sometime he would talk about some simple tactics, and in turn she would talk about the simple intricacies of life in her court. It was a fair verbal exchange that gave him some level of satisfaction that spending time with similar persons would not give him, mainly her piously soft spoken nature- which was something that other nobles he was acquainted with lacked.

As they sat and discussed the differences in tea (knowledge imparted on him by some other loud noble) a loud rapping came to his door. Whoever was knocking on his door was quite angry and Robin suspected he knew who it was that was visiting him at a still early time in the morning. In fact the only ever person who barged in in such a way was Frederick, as most other people would have his guards knock on the door.

He heard a voice from outside, "my Lord Tactician Robin. Sir Frederick wishes to speak with you."

He was a Lord in name only, he had a title, and the technical privileges therein, yet he did not have the monetary prosperity and land like he normally would have had otherwise.

Robin sighed, "Allow him in."

Jordane kept silent in front of him her eyes darting between the door and Robin himself. Robin shot her a small and short apologetic look as Frederick stepped into the room holding a small figure by the coat.

This small green-yelllow haired, pointed eared, pouting individual, with her arms crossed as she dangled from Frederick's hands, gave him the saddest look he had ever seen.

"Nowi? Why?" Robin said, not even bothering to stand up and greet Frederick as the tall man irreverently held the manakete girl dangling a head's length off the ground.

"It's not my fault. Frederick's soldiers were playing a cool game and I was bored. It was a fun game where he split them up, and had them line up, and then they would smash their shields into one another. I figured it was some kind of game for concentration because they looked all serious and stuff, I was just trying to make them laugh so they would lose," Nowi said.

Frederick dropped her and she landed smoothly on her feet, "I'll let you deal with her Robin. Her safety was endangered there, as well as the safety of my guardsmen. Chrom told me you were in charge of her."

Robin felt as if that was a lie. He knew that Frederick didn't like him very much on principle. The stoic knight had never really liked him, and the man's odd devotion to his charge kept a wedge in between them either way.

Before Robin could so much as blink again, Frederick was out his door and probably back to running drills with his men.

Jordane tapped his foot with her own, so subtly that he doubted Nowi saw, "Lord Robin, would you mind introducing me to this young… Lady?"

"Of course, my lady," Robin said, giving her a nod, "This is Nowi, as you can see she looks rather young, but she is a manakete. It is the curse- or gift- whichever way you see it- of their kind to appear youthful for a much longer time than other races. I believe Nowi here is something over 1000 years old? Is that right?"

Nowi still rumpled up from Frederick's treatment nodded, "yeah 1000… 300 something?" she said, "at least a thousand."

Lady Jordane silenced a quiet gasp with her hand, "Oh my. You must be quiet experienced with the world then my lady."

Jordane stood from her seat and turned to give Nowi a formal curtsey. Robin succeeded in not laughing, but then again, most people would take a manakete and show them great reverence; perhaps even worship them. Robin might have shown a greater respect for the divine dragon if she was anyone else but Nowi.

Jordane looked back to Robin and said perhaps the most improper thing he had ever heard her say, "My Lord Robin, do you perhaps know lady Nowi in any significance?"

Quite frankly Jordane's question threw him completely off. Nowi looked at him with confusion, and Robin snorted hard enough for his throat to hurt.

"Gods no Jordane," he said, "We were just friends and fellow shepherds in the war, nothing more really."

Robin caught a sudden, quiet hitch in Nowi's breath at his response to Jordane, though he couldn't think as to why. He didn't think Jordane heard it, though, as she did not react.

Luckily, at that time, someone came knocking at the door to save him from the awkward situation. The person who the guards announced was none other than Cordelia, coming to escort Jordane back to her father. It was really a short meeting that they had. Lord Ferris could sometimes take many hours to speak with Chrom, and Chrom was rather partial to the lord and thus gave up more than the usual time for him on most occasions.

Jordane gave Robin a swift curtsey, and as she passed by Nowi she stopped and did the same, before stopping and taking Cordelia's hand.

"Sister," she said, with reverence. The two were out the door and then Robin was sealed again in his office with Nowi.

"Lord Ferris' meeting didn't take long. Well I suppose you can wait in here if you want while I finish up these papers, it won't take more than another half-hour or so," Robin said, as he sat back at his desk; patting the seat previously occupied by Jordane as to invite Nowi to sit down.

Nowi shook her head, "No thanks," she crossed her arms," I've got something to do, maybe we can go out tomorrow or s-some other time if you aren't _too busy_."

Robin put down his pen, as he had habitually picked it up, "That's a shame Nowi I was kind of looking forward to it," he stood up from his chair, "you wouldn't mind if I helped you out for bit would you? If it isn't too personal of a task."

Nowi looked away from Robin, "No it's fine you should get your work done, it's not so hard and I won't need any help."

Nowi went and knocked on the door, signaling for the guards to open the door and let her out of the room.

Robin turned back to his work in order to finish it. He rested his face in his left hand and gripped his pen in his right, intent on getting his work done. His grip was tight enough that third knuckled of his third finger had bent slightly painfully concave.

He began writing again, "Damn it Nowi…" he muttered.

 **Mr. Flusion**


	8. Jealousy, What Is It?

**Jealousy, What Is It?**

 **A/N: there's probably a bit more strong language in here than you guys are used to seeing from me, and a lot more language in here than I am acquainted with writing or speaking. Though hast been warn-ed.**

 **So originally 7x was a one-shot tie-in but after getting about half way through the eighth chapter I realized that it had far too much significance to the story, and I couldn't continue the story without relying heavily on what I learned from writing this. instead of going as a side story this is introing as a full chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem or any such related subjects, this, and any other work I place on this website is for non-monetary gain and I expect no such thing from it. no suing please.**

 **Chatpoter 8** **Jealousy, What Is It?**

 _Robin was just so dumb to be talking to some noble's dumb daughter. What was he doing with her in the first place?_

Nowi knew it was customary for nobles to offer their daughters to other nobles as a bid for power, money, or control. Especially in Ylisse. This was why someone courting Robin confused her. She knew that he had been titled for his deeds, but he didn't really have an incredibly favorable position in the politics and economy of Ylisse as far as she understood.

Plainly she didn't understand what it was she was feeling right then, when she was in the room- feelings she tried to hide, and the after effects of those feelings as she huddled against the wall and wandered about the castle away from Robin's office and room. It was an ugly and angry feeling she wasn't used to having, and couldn't remember ever experiencing.

It made her, the mature 1000 year old divine dragon, simultaneously want to go somewhere to cry, but also to seek violent confrontation.

 _I just want to go and show the snooty noble bitch that she can't have him._

As she was walking down the wide, gray, and airy hallways someone tapped her on the shoulder. She whirled around, nearly about the release her so suddenly pent up emotions on the first thing behind her.

Luckily for Lissa, Nowi had enough self-control over herself to keep from harming the young princess.

"Oh hi Lissa… What's up?" Nowi said.

"Oh… not too much I just so you and thought you could use a good talking to you know? How's it going?"

Nowi started walking again, with Lissa following along.

"It's going all okidoki you know," she rubbed the side of her arm, " Rob-Robby won't play with me and Frederick was mean and carried me around by my coat," Nowi showed Lissa her somewhat ripped coat hood.

Lissa pouted, "Well I'll have words with him, and get him to replace it for you. That was mean of him," Lissa smiled, "Say, do want to go and have some tea with me it'll be a fun little tea party and I'll get a few more girls to come along. It'll be fun."

"uh," Nowi hesitated, "No I-" clack!

Her teeth clacked shut as Lissa suddenly pulled her down a side passage way and began pulling her o the direction of the royal apartments. Nowi could feel that she had bitten her cheek. But it didn't feel like she was bleeding or anything.

The sudden shock of surprise from Lissa's antics gave way again to the oddly subdued sad-angry feeling from earlier. It was a feeling that wouldn't go away, and she was beginning to suspect she knew the word for her feelings, but she was too proud regarding her feelings to admit it or acknowledge its definition. Almost shamefully so.

It wasn't long before Nowi found out that Lissa had in fact already gotten a couple of girls together, which alluded to why she hadn't taken no for an answer. Soon Nowi was plopped confusedly down upon a pillow of yellow frills, surrounded by a room covered in soft yellows and frilly pinks.

Around a large and low table sat many of the ladies of the shepherds including Cordelia, Sumia, Maribelle, and- surprisingly- Sully.

Sully saw her look and winced, "Sumia made me," she stated simply.

The red-headed tom-boy even sported a simple dress, not as ornate as the others around the table, but still far from her usual dress.

The whole of the room seemed to freeze unexpectedly when Nowi realised that Jordane, the lady from Robin's room, was among the ladies seated at the table. She gave Nowi an innocent look, but Nowi could smell the intentions beneath those beautiful innocent eyes. She look away.

A young maid, _Lissa's personal attendant,_ Nowi thought, served up small cups of tea to all of the seated ladies.

As soon as the maid excused herself to the back of the room, Lissa immediately started the conversation, pointing her words directly at Lady Jordane.

"Lady Jordane," Lissa began, "how are things on your visit this time around, it has certainly been a month or two since your father has come by. He used to come by far less often."

"Yes he certainly has," her soft spoken platitudes burnt Nowi's nose, yet she said nothing, "the new exportation trade our city began has certainly grown our local economy a lot, and surprisingly so, considering what we used to solely focus on exporting."

"So I've seen," Maribelle hopped in, "it seems to be doing a lot for your commerce, and as a function it has boosted the market supply of fish all over Ylisse. Why even in Themis we are experiencing an influx of cuisine from the sea, and we are on the other side of the country."

"Yes, our," she glanced at Cordelia next to her, "father has gone to great lengths to ensure that our new exports are preserved well so that they can last the longer trips around Ylisse, Regna Ferox, and even Plegia," Jordane continued.

"Yes, Oh my! Dearest Cordelia I seem to have had a slip of the mind there, you and Lady Jordane are half-sisters are you not?" Maribelle exclaimed.

Cordelia took a sip of her steaming tea before answering, "Yes we are."

Nowi had thought that she had heard Jordane correctly early, but her supposed words were now confirmed truth. She almost scowled at knowing she was related to the respected Pegasus Knight.

Sumia, who had been silent thus far, finally spoke, "How are things with Robin?"

The gentle clack of glass could be heard as Jordane set her cup back onto the table, "I do so enjoy spending time with him, even as we discuss simple things. He is a very charming man."

Cordelia spoke up again, "Yes I know what you mean. It is a wonder that he hasn't attracted more attention to himself, with his sudden and heroic appearance, I dare say I expected all the ladies to be swooning over his lap."

"Yes…" Jordane murmured, "It's quite something isn't it."

"Indeed," Maribelle spoke absently.

The chat of the ladies went on for some time, and Nowi's frustration grew greater, until it made its way to a shield of cool indifference. It was a mask she had known to wear for some time as she absently spoke about this and that with the other noble and titled ladies among the group, doing her best to avoid direct conversation with Jordane, lest her carefully controlled mask shatter.

1000 years was hardly enough to master her powerful emotions, and she knew others who had difficulty at much greater ages than her own. Most manakete's were solemn to show their faces to the other members of humanity until they were, at the very least, her age; however, she had been much less fortunate. It was best not to dwell on the past.

It was best for her to simply keep an eye on things, and hope beyond hope that nothing got out of hand. She couldn't interfere in such matters as it stood. Nowi spent a chunk of the afternoon sitting and talking with her ladies, everyone was giggling whenever Sully said something complete inappropriate, and Lissa maid had, on more than one occasion, gone completely scarlet in the face from the red-head's words, which made everyone in the room continue to laugh.

Eventually the small party of people left to attend their evening tasks, and Jordane, who had announced that she would be staying for an undetermined amount of time around the castle until her father next visited, went to her room. Nowi was the last to leave, thanks to some pointed looks from Lissa. They were looks she would have rather avoided, but could not in the public space.

With a small look and a shooing motion, Lissa maid left them and closed the door, leaving Nowi alone and vulnerable in the room with Lissa.

"Okay, now that everyone is gone can you just spit it up and be yourself? I know how manaketies are. I've been reading Robins book when he hasn't been looking," Lissa said pointedly.

"What?" Nowi said.

"Robins… you know book? The one about manaketies? I thought you gave that to him."

"No I don't know what you're talking about…"

 _A book on manaketies? How did anyone have the knowledge of her species to compile a full text? That was a little weird, but she had noticed a number of books ranging from various topics like politics, and oddly enough biology, sitting on his desk. Perhaps it was just among is odd retinue of reading._ She thought.

"Yeah. He's had it for a while now I think he got it at some antique book shop in Plegia, I'm not quite sure when…" Lissa said.

"Never mind that. Can I just go? I'd rather not talk about it. If you've been reading a book that has any accuracy you'd know that I'm kinda emotional right now, I don't want to lose control and hurt you," Nowi said.

Lissa waved her off, "Oh be quiet you, I can handle myself just fine, and besides I trust you to not hurt me."

Nowi sighed, "its just- I- that I- Robin he uh, is frustrating me right now. I Think?"

"Oh come on what's a little bit of girl troubles gonna do to stop you? We all know you're trying. Even Chrom has kind of figured it out probably."

Nowi hugged her ribs, "Yeah I kind of figured that, but it isn't just some simple little game I can play in my free time. Especially not now, I shouldn't even be allowed to think about him right now."

Lissa looked confused, "Why not," she said.

"It's just that- look I can't okay, I figured you would know if you had been reading that book you revere so much," Nowi said, bitterly.

"Well it doesn't matter," Lissa said, "I really don't know. Why can't you just tell me?"

Nowi bit her lip in frustration, "Fuck!" she cursed, "Lissa. I told you. I can't doing anything about it. At least not right now."

Lissa had jumped at her sudden violently vocal burst.

"D-does it have something to do with Jordane?" Lissa questioned, carefully.

Nowi was slowly pacing the room now. She was trying to control her breathing, lest she let herself from her control.

"It has literally everything to do with that b-bitch," Nowi was trying to hold back her rage and feelings of loss, "

It was a stupidly horrid feeling, and something her elders had told her about a long time ago. It was the covetousness that came with living close to humans, coupled with the magically binding laws of her people. One seldom spoken and rarely enforced.

"Nowi? Calm down before things really get out of hand. Deep breaths now come on," Lissa said.

She drew closer, attempting to put an arm around Nowi and steady.

"No," she pushed the young princess, too wise for her years, away.

Nowi began to look or an exit as fast as possible and settled on the doors to the balcony. Ignoring Lissa's pleading she escaped the room and jump from the balcony. She took the gifted form of her ancestry mid-air and took off away from Ylisstol.


	9. Recoveries

Chatpoter 9

Some days passed without Robin being able to see Nowi. It seemed to him that she had disappeared off of the face of the earth. He wondered if she was upset enough, though he knew not what from, to simply leave again after having just returned. He had expected to be dealing with her for some time before she set off to wherever again. He never did find out where she had been since the end of the war.

Either way, he was too busy to go and see if anyone nearby had seen her, at least at the moment. It frustrated him somewhat. The day before, a courier came in with reports that the forests to the east of the city were burning. In fact, he had noticed a slight ashy gray tinge to the color of the clouds in that direction.

At this point Robin was convinced that Chrom was dumping at least a portion of his own workload onto Robin, as handling this situation should have been a decree that he made, yet it was pushed on to Robin. He was sure that his military status as a tactician was totally worthless. It was official.

Now he was in the business of gathering the rare Fimbulvetr tomes from the castle's stores and the College's libraries. He would have to lead a small troop of mages and soldiers to attempt to dispatch the fire, or at least slow it down so that any villages in its way would be able to escape being consumed. No reports of lives lost had yet to appear, but it had only been a few days.

As a matter of fact, evacuating nearby villages was but a precaution, considering that the nearest village or town was quite far from the fire, but it had the potential to spread far enough to effect more than just wildlife. He wasn't willing to risk people in the situation, and his mages would be equipped and ready to mobilize by late afternoon. They would make headway towards the offending forest but would not reach there until sometime around noon the next day. Their first destination was a short investigation as to the origin of the fire.

The courier would guide them to the most likely location of the fire's origin.

Robin was in the process of writing letters of request to relieve some more advanced mages from their studies temporarily. He was going to be taking a few students along, not just the more experienced and learned sages. In his letters he specifically asked for Ricken, whom he knew had been at the college. Having a shepherd along would boost the other students' confidence, and his own surety that they could stop the fire. He was likewise aware that the other students look up to Ricken, and considering the nobility of many of them, they might be more inclined to follow Robin with him around.

He trusted the young and prodigious mage's abilities. Perhaps more than the older more experienced ones in employ of the castle.

The process was finished with quick and practiced ease. He was getting better at writing letters and signing documents. He rolled the thick parchment and encapsulated it in a wooden carrying case with the seal of the royal tactician imprinted on it.

If he was being honest with himself, the mage in him yearned to try out the Fimbulvetr tome, and he would have to take some short practice with it along the way to the fire to ensure its proper use. He knew it wouldn't be simple like using thunder magic was to him. The icy magic was more akin to wind magic, of which he was slightly less practiced with, still proficient mind.

With every task complete, Robin began gathering his personal habits about himself and sent a messenger off to the college. His cloak's pockets were laden with the weight of several tomes and texts that he kept on him at all times, though at that point the spot for his wind tome was replaced by the Fimbulvetr tome.

Robin, mounted on his horse, followed by the knights and mages he had procured, were nearing the charcoaled remains at the edge of the forest. Even as far away as they were, the acrid burning smell of the forest touched his nostrils, and tinged his eyes.

Behind him he heard someone cough.

Soon their horses were treading on the blackened remains of the wild. This was where Robin stopped. He dismounted his horse, and motioned for everyone to do the same. One of the knights dismounted, but the rest spread out into a patrol formation as Robin had instructed them to do. The dismounted man stood guard while the mages went about their business. Robin and the other mages quickly spread out to search for some clue, but it didn't take more than a few steps before Robin and most of the other mages he brought along could tell what had happened.

There was a powerful sense of magic in the air, it almost crackled through the ground, not physically of course but it was there. One of his mages came up.

"Lord Robin sir. It seems that the fire was magical in origin," she had said.

"So it seems," he placed a hand on his hip, "perhaps a brigand of some fair magical strength. Uncommon of course, but they may have simply lost control of their power," Robin said.

It was more than a meager speculation, and was as good an idea as any when it came down to it. The mage had probably been practicing or showing off, and had lost their grip on the fire magic. Fire tomes could also simply explode if not treated well, but that would require an especially stupid mage.

"Robin!" came a shout from deeper into the ashen wastes. It was Ricken.

Robin shooed the mages back to their work and stepped off towards Ricken, who was squatted some distance away. How he managed to get so low in his robes, Robin would never know. Perhaps long practice from years of wearing such clothing.

Once he was near he saw what Ricken was looking at and saw that the boy was blushing heavily, and realized, not what, but whom. He was crouched over a girl, naked, and covered in so much soot that he difficulty telling her apart from ground for a moment. She was still breathing, which was a relief.

He knelt down, and gently rolled the girl onto her side in order to inspect her a little more closely for burns. Her backside was slightly less ashen colored from the soot, and what he saw there shocked him. He saw Ricken gasp beside him. All over her back was one massive scar. In a familiar shape. Robin removed his glove to make sure that he was seeing the correct thing, and indeed the shape of the massive scars matched what was on his hand.

Robin replaced his glove and let his eyes wander to the girls head, were he had enough self-control to not exclaim anything as he saw her ears for the first time. She had the long and serrated ears of a manakete he knew well.

He looked around at the fire damage, and back at Nowi sleeping on the ground naked. Quickly he removed his coat and wrapped the heavy girl in it as he picked her up. Gods she was a deep sleeper, but he knew that.

Now that she was covered and no longer indecent in his arms, he turned to Ricken, suddenly very glad it was the boy who had found her. From the recognition in Ricken's eyes Robin knew that the boy knew who the manakete was.

"No one knows about this alright Ricken?" Robin said, grumpily.

Ricken nodded in understanding, "Yes Robin."

Nowi could very well be tried for this. Divine Dragon or not, there were plenty of nobles who cared about their land more than what gods they worshiped. Robin doubted Chrom would allow anything to befall the manakete, yet it was still something he preferred to avoid.

Nowi was the perfect excuse, and a likely candidate for the cause of the fire. If Nowi had caused the fire, than she would likely be sleeping from exhaustion. Something he had read spoke of how manakete would sometimes require a violent outlet for their pent up instinctual energy, and it left them physically drained, but overall healthier after.

It was just unfortunate that she had found something combustible to destroy rather than something like a boulder. He shuttered to think about what it might been like to witness such a destructive event. He didn't want to know what an out-of-control manakete could do, or what the destruction would look like. The only thing capable of stopping such a catastrophic event would be Chrom's falchion, or perhaps a more powerful member of her tribe. He didn't know where Nowi stood in terms of sheer power though.

Manaketies were perhaps a more rare sight than the Taguel, and Robin knew that there was only one member of that species left. That was to say, he wasn't likely to meet any other of the dragon kind. Ever.

Still holding the girl in his arms, Robin commanded the search to a halt. She seemed somehow smaller and more vulnerable to him now more than ever.

"We should probably move on to subdue the fire. It is the most prominent thing, and we are unlikely to find a mage outside of ourselves nearby. If some inexperienced mage had started this fire, well, he's either dead or fled long ago. Same for anyone else who might have started this fire. Best not to dawdle," he commanded.

Robin had even thrown his hood over Nowi, so as to hide her head, and ears. For now her colorful hair was disguised all on its own.

Robin somehow managed to carefully mount his horse and seat the sleeping girl in front of him. One arm held her in place and he used the other to hold the reins. The other nearby knights and mages did well to not question the small bundle he cared for, though he heard some muttering among them to the effect of "Lord Robin" and "young girls." He paid them no mind.

He knew that they knew he had collected the comatose girl in the ashes, and probably suspected that she had been abandoned to die there by whomever had started the fire.

Nowi didn't wake up from her draconic slumber until they were all but an hour from Ylisstol. The fire was but history, and come autumn, saplings would be sprouting among the ashes of their fallen parents. Honestly his arms were tired form holding the manakete up for so long.

Even as she lifted her head up to look about weakly, trying to get a bearing on where she was, he continued to support her, lest she lose her balance and fall from the horse. He could feel all the buttons and facets of his coat she wore as he held her tightly to his chest.

She looked oddly mismatched with her clothing. He had managed to procure some spare trousers from one of the female knights, who was closest to her size out of everyone in the party, but nobody had any shirts to spare, so she was still wearing his coat to defend her decency. And likely it kept her warm, because it had been a little chilly, not that she needed the extra warmth, being warm blooded as she was.

Nowi spoke, "You can let me go Robin… I can hold myself up."

She sounded tired.

It wasn't the kind of tired brought on from a single sleepless night, but the dreary exhaustion that came with exerting one's self to the absolute limit. He knew the feeling, and had known it only once after their defeat at the Plegian castle. It was a strangely numb feeling of being too tired to even sleep because that took too much energy. One could do nothing but simply keep going.

"I don't think I will. You just woke up and you're all exhausted. I'm surprised you are even awake yet," Robin said, frowning.

Nowi blew a raspberry, "Robby I'm fine. I'm a manakete remember, we're pretty strong you know."

Robin let go of the reins for a moment to rub the side of his head.

"You're going to hurt yourself and I don't need that responsibility," Robin said.

"Hey…" she complained, "I bet you a thouwsand gold I can hop off this horse and beat you to Ylisstol. But if I'm gonna get that money you're gonna have to let me get off the horse."

"Yeah fine. Sure. We'll see," Robin said.

He, gently as he could, let slack from his grip until he had all but removed his arm from around her waist. Immediately as all the slack was let off, he felt her slump forward and sideways. He almost reacted too slowly to keep her from keeling over.

"woo, hehehe," Nowi giggled, "that was close. I think you should hold me for a bit longer."

Even as she said that, Robin could feel her stiffen up noticeably and shiver. She let out a small pained cough. It concerned him greatly, yet she didn't seem sick, or injured.

"Are you feeling alright Nowi?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she rasped, "could you not squeeze me so hard though? I can't breathe."

Immediately Robin loosened his hold on her a little bit.

"I apologize," Robin said.

"It isn't a big deal," she said, before coughing hard into the shoulder of his coat.

Robin chose not to speak again, sensing that she didn't wish to speak anymore. He granted her the kindness of keeping quiet. She obviously wasn't telling him something, and probably wouldn't. The way she had been acting since getting back from wherever bothered him enough that he wished for the days when she wouldn't leave him alone.

He _knew_ that he hadn't gripped her that hard.

Nowi was thankful that Robin stopped trying to talk with her. It was just making it harder all over again. She could feel the accursed magic shock through her every time she attempting to console with him. It wasn't enough for her tribe to simply have laws, but the laws were enforced through the binding magic of manaketies.

Just being close enough to touch Robin right then was causing it to react. She could smell the concern melting off of him, but she did her best to ignore the distraction. She hoped he would forgive her for staining the shoulder of his coat. It was hard to tell, but she was certain he would eventually notice the subtly darker, and ruddier patch of color on the shoulder of the coat.

She hoped that they would get the Ylisstol sooner, and prayed for the hastening of the horses. She doubted Robin would let her away from him until they were, at least, within the castle where a healer such as Lissa and/or Libra, whom he trusted, could look her over.

She would just have to bear it for now, and keep away while she could, as well as that would work. She would curse her ancestors if they weren't so powerful, and alive. She would curse her petty emotions too if they weren't all she had to continue feeling something.

Blissfully she could feel sleep overriding her current fear, and let it take her back to its depths again. Should could thank her primal, destructive instinct for exhausting her so, and perhaps when she was in the next life she would do so.

She was brought back to consciousness again as Robin was handing her limp body over to Libra, so he could inspect her and her health. Once she was awake enough to focus with her eyes she saw Robin walk away. This simultaneously brought her relief and twisted her stomach up into knots. She was beginning to learn what it was to covet something that wasn't shiny. The feeling was evil.

She let him walk away, knowing full well what was probably going to happen over the next few days.

"Good morning Libra," she said, sleepily looking up at the soft man's face, "I haven't seen you since the parade."

"hmm," he hummed.

Libra had her sit in a warm bath for a long time after he had checked to make sure she didn't have any immediately threatening injuries. It was wonderful to get some quiet time for a moment to sit and sigh into the water while she slowly and methodically scrubbed as much of the soot from her body.

By the mother, it had gotten everywhere. She would be picking pieces out of unsavory places for weeks. Her ears and hair were the worst, and those were the things she wanted looking their best. The ash had gotten inside her ears and half clogged them. She didn't even bother trying to do her hair alone and instead called Libra for assistance.

He bade her wait while he went and got someone to assist. While she waited for the maid, Nowi set about picking her nails clear. Thankfully Libra, or some other servant, had left an actual tool designed for cleaning under nails. It was a little metal pick, with a small and fine brush at the other end.

She had done all the work she could for her left hand when the doors to the private bathroom opened again. Nowi sniffed and stiffened slightly and she looked over to see Lissa. The young princess came in somewhat nervously.

"How are you feeling Nowi?" Lissa said, whispering as if speaking any louder would scare Nowi away.

"I'm tired Lissa, and too weak to keep my arms up to scrub my hair." Nowi said.

Lissa sighed, "I see… well let me get this dress off. It's a bit expensive. Libra only told me you needed help."

Lissa quickly stripped down to her puffy undershirt and pants. Then, she pulled a stool up to the tub. While she was situating herself, Nowi did her best to get all of her hair to where Lissa could reach it. Honestly if she didn't like her hair it would be much easier to cut most of it off. Lissa had a task ahead of her. A maid came in and drained the tub, pouring almost too hot water over Nowi's body.

Nowi sunk lower into the steaming water as Lissa massaged her scalp and scrubbed her hair. Lissa giggled above her.

"Nowi, if you were a cat you'd be purring right now." Lissa said.

Nowi was indeed about to fall asleep as Lissa cleaned her dirty hair for her. Thus she attempted to occupy herself by getting the rest of the dirt from under her finger and toenails. Anything really to keep from falling asleep again. She always woke up in weird places. People's arms, atop horses, atop Robin….

The bath needed to be drained and refilled several times in order to get all of the sooty gray ash out of her hair, and then another full and clean bath to finish. As Nowi stood up, still shaky, to help Lissa rinse her off. She felt a flash of anger that she needed help to wash herself. It hadn't been this bad very many times. And those other times, she hadn't anyone around her who would have helped.

She always went deep into the wilderness to release her more murderous urges, and often lay weak and comatose all alone. A curse of her long life, shared by all dragon kind. She chose spots specifically so nobody could find her.

Once she stood at her full height, facing away from Lissa, she heard a halted gasp from Princess. Shame and embarrassment ran through Nowi in a hot flash, as she remembered that she was naked and that her back was not something pretty to look at. The backs of her arms were not something pretty to look at. They were perhaps more ugly.

A long line ran all the way down to her wrist. Along that line was what made her arms perhaps the ugliest. A cruelly done and crudely depicted image of wings, carved to the individual feather, covered the back of her arms. She shuttered remembering, that perhaps the most painful part was when the man had carved the final feather, cutting against her wrist bone.

"Let's get you rinsed off, and dried. I brought along a new flavor of oil I'd like to put in your hair. Its honey scented! If you like it I can give it to you," Lissa said.

Nowi, being on her guard, got pushed off balance. She wasn't expecting that from the princess.

She turned to the princess, "N-no Lissa I'm fine. I don't need anything like that," Nowi panicked.

Lissa smiled, and said "Nonsense, it's good for your hair and smells nice to boot you know? Come on sit over here we can dry you off, and get to work. You have a lot of hair for your size. You have a lot of hair for _any_ size."

Nowi reluctantly, and shakily, moved over to the stool Lissa had set up. She took Lissa's hand and braced against it to sit down.

She felt very exposed siting naked on the stool while Lissa looked her over. Lissa began to run her hands through Nowi's hair, ensuring no tangles would occur, before gently working her hair through a towel. Once her hair was only slightly damp, Lissa pulled the towel away, and Nowi turned to watch her.

Lissa noticed and made a little circle motion, urging her to turn back around. Nowi did as she was told, and heard the soft swishy sound as Lissa rubbed her oily hands together.

"You know you don't have to do this right?" Nowi said.

"Oh whatever. Those petty social rules can stuff it. There's nobody here to judge me," Nowi heard from behind her.

Lissa began to meticulously working the oil into her hair, starting at the head and slowly working down.

Nowi took a deep breath, "Do you think it's your fault?" she asked, suddenly.

Lissa stopped, near the middle of her shoulder blades and jerked slightly. Nowi could feel Lissa's fingers poke into her back. She tried not to flinch away slightly, but failed. It made her shutter.

"What?" Lissa continued working on the hair, "What would make you think that? What's my f-fault?"

"You've never done _this_ ," Nowi gestured to herself, "before.

Lissa stopped to put more of the honey oil on her hands.

"Well it's just. I was reading in the manakete book and one of the sections talked about the emotions that all manakete feel. They're much harder to keep in check, and stronger than if a human was trying to hide a feeling or something. I figured I wasn't helping too much…" Lissa said, going back to running the oil through her hair, much more slowly.

 _Do I really have to give a history lesson right now?_ Nowi thought.

"It's not something that was in your or my control. Do you know why manaketies exist?" she questioned.

"No I don't actually. I don't know anything about the origin of the manaketies," Lissa said.

"Alright," Nowi started, "well a long time ago. Way before I was born even. Dragons ruled the world, before even humans were around at all. But for some reason, and nobody managed to figure out why, producing offspring suddenly became challenging. Along with this, older dragons, mostly, began to grow literally unreasonable. The process is known as degeneration, and it can still happen even today to a manakete. Anyway, many of the dragons decided the best course of action to save the race was to put all of our power into stones," suddenly Nowi stopped.

 _Where's my Dragonstone?_ She thought.

A panic rose in her sudden and powerful. But Lissa quickly stopped her, before she stood up and potentially fell and injured herself on the slippery still wet floor.

"It's okay, Nowi I have it," Lissa comforted, gently gripping her wrist.

Nowi turned instantly on Lissa, "Where is it? I need it now," she said, ferocious.

Lissa recoiled, "I-it isn't in the bathroom. I left it in my room. Robin gave it to me."

Nowi stood immediately and made for the door, "I'm going to go get it."

She barely registered the wet slapping of her feet stomping on the floor.

"What?" Lissa said.

Nowi stopped herself just before the door.

 _This is stupid what am I doing?_

Still naked, Nowi stood still, with her hand on the handle of the door. She had almost walked out into the hallways, showing off everything for all to see. Nowi turned back around and moved to go sit down in the stool again. Her trip back to Lissa was somewhat shaky and her legs felt a little wobbly.

 _It's okay. It's fine._ Nowi took a deep breath, _it's going to be okay. Lissa has it. It's safe._

Nowi situated herself on the seat again.

"Its fine I can get it later. Let's continue. Where was I?" Nowi said.

She interlaced her fingers together to form a large fist and set her hand in-between her thighs. She straightened her posture.

"Are you okay Nowi? Do I need to go get it for you? Clothes haven't arrived yet," Lissa said.

" _It's Fine,"_ Nowi insisted, "let's see, yes, degeneration. Stones. The Dragons sealed the majority of their power into individual gemstones crafted to hold the essence of a dragon. With the sealing of our powers came a human-like form, with sub-human physical abilities. Really. I wouldn't be able to beat even a 12 year old child in a foot race- probably. Anyway, the loss of our permanent dragon form allowed us to avoid the madness, but it was not without its side effects. One of them being occasionally temporary loss of self-control, as far as our destructive urges go. Some manaketies can hold it off for hundreds of years with careful discipline.

For me, that was the first time in around 30 or 50 years. Don't really keep track of it," Nowi shrugged, taking a few deep breaths, "You just happened to be in the wrong time, _at_ the wrong time, I'd felt my grip slipping for a few days. The tea party wasn't the only thing or the most prominent that led to my loss of control that day. It just happened to be the last thing. I was on the way to leave and go find someplace to hide it out when you caught me."

Lissa, having been silent for the time, spoke again.

"Oh I didn't know that about you, and I doubt the book would tell me. It doesn't have a ton of manakete history…" she trailed off.

Nowi could tell that she wasn't quite convinced, and the Dragonstone did nothing to sway Lissa, and perhaps only made her fear Nowi even more.

"You know the oil really does smell nice, I think I might like to keep it," Nowi said suddenly.

Just as suddenly, Lissa brightened up.

"Of course, of course. You know how oils work don't you?" Lissa said excitedly.

Nowi smiled, "you might have do me for the first couple times. Bring a mirror along so I can see you do it.

"Sure!" Lissa said, "hold on I'm going to go and see if your clothes are ready yet. I don't have all day long to just sit here and chat with you. I have to chat with other people too."

She rushed off towards the door, turned mid-step, as if remembering something and dunked her hands in the cooling bath water to scrub them clean. Nowi chuckled at her but otherwise said nothing as the young princess rushed off, seemingly haven forgotten the time.

 **A/N: Boy I'm pumping these things out like an ice-cream machine. These are a lot of fun to write, but I've been so absorbed in my writing that I haven't done anything else in the past couple days, well besides my school work. Whatever. Hope you liked the chapter. Nowi's Perspective is really growing in me. At first when I was writing the very first scene of the story(it's from Nowi's perspective) I just wanted to get on to the meat of my writing, but I've come to realize that she's just as important for this story as Robin. More from me on a later date.**

 **Update(not an edit. This was here as part of my first author's note)! I'm going to attempt to start a schedule for updates so that they are more regular and I have some extra space if I run behind. Probably Saturdays or Sundays, and then perhaps Wednesdays if i'm getting my work done especially quickly. That saying you won't be getting any back-to-back updates every day, which is good for me, because writing is my cocaine, and I don't want to overdose. It also means that, hopefully, there won't be any more incredibly long absences.**

 **Mr. Flusion**


	10. The Missing Dragonstone Conspiracy

Chatpoter 10

 **A/N: Screw update schedules. I'm not patient enough to wait for certain days to update. If I don't update as I go, the backlog will be too powerful. Here is chapter 10, early, and you had better like it… or not. It's okay if you don't. I'll understand.**

Robin unloaded the still, and yet again, unconscious Nowi into the pious Nagan priest's arms. Libra accepted Nowi from him wordlessly and held her gently in his arms. As Robin turned around to go about his reports, he saw her eye's flicker open, but chose not to say anything or bother her. She had seemed to not desire his presence anyway.

Robin quickly hurried back to his study to compile a report for Chrom. The Exalt would not be in a huge hurry to receive such a type of report but it would be much better for Robin if he could go and get it done with thoughts on haste.

On his way to his study he passed by the dining hall with intents on grabbing a few pieces of food to carry back with him. As he was grabbing a platter with some slices of meat, a potato and even an apple, he saw Lissa leaving the dining hall.

Seeing her sparked his memory to a certain item that he happened to be carrying in his pocket. It was a large gemstone, smaller than his fist, but quite a bit larger than a pebble. He had nearly forgotten that he had picked it up for Nowi.

He opened his coat, shrugging to himself as he noticed the ashy gray stains. He pulled the Dragonstone out of one of the hidden pockets inside his pockets.

 _It can be cleaned later._

"Hey Lissa, can you come here for a moment," he caught her just down the hallway outside of the dining hall.

Lissa turned to him, "yeah sure Robin, when did you get back?" she asked.

"Just now," he held out the precious stone, "Can you give this to Nowi when you see her again?"

"Nowi's back?" Lissa said.

The way she said it brought Robin's attention. It almost felt like guilt, but he suppressed his urge to ask her.

"Yeah when I was out stopping the fire I ran into her," Robin said.

Lissa took the stone, "Yes well when I next see her I'll give her it."

Robin was already walking off, "Thanks Liss I appreciate it," he said

 _Alright, that's one thing taken care of._

Robin walked back to the study, eating the sliced, he assumed beef, as he walked. By the time he got back to the room, he had already started on the potato, eating it whole as he held the hot food in his hand.

"Lord Robin," his guards saluted.

They opened the doors and allowed him into his room. So intent on reaching his desk, with a mouthful of potato, he didn't notice the presence of another person in his office. He sat at the desk and began the opening words of his report.

Suddenly, "Welcome back Robin. Your powers of observation are clear to be seen."

Robin jumped from his desk, toppling the chair over in the process, making a clattering noise. Then, with one hand on the dagger he kept at his desk, he turned quickly to see Jordane sitting in a chair near the corner of the room.

Nearly as quickly as he pulled his dagger around, the guards opened the doors and rushed inward, ready to halt an assault. Robin quickly waved them off, and they put away their swords and left the room again without another word.

Robin picked his chair back up, and reset it at his desk.

Jordane chuckled quietly, "Well it is nice to see you again Lord Robin," she said, as she stood and curtsied.

Robin returned the gesture with a bow of his own, "Likewise to you Lady Jordane Ferris."

Jordane walked over to him, "I do not believe, Lord Robin, that I know of your surname," she said.

As she walked passed him he could feel her hand brush against his, her fingers trailing along.

"Yes, well Lady Jordane if you'll excuse me, I don't know my surname. I might even say that I don't even have one."

Jordane gasped, "Why Robin. I didn't know… are you perhaps orphaned?"

Robin laughed, "I don't know. Maybe. I woke up maybe two years ago in the middle of a field, with nothing but a name, a coat, and some knowledge. No memories. Chrom rescued me from what was going to be an almost certain and confused death at the hands of brigands. Really I owe him pretty much everything. Including my life."

"I see…" Jordane almost whispered, "But, well you are here now, and very much in need of some kind of notoriety. Have you considered taking a name?" she said.

"What do you mean," Robin asked.

He was suspicious as to what she had meant by that statement.

"Well it's just that you cannot remain as you are now, Lord Robin," she said, "You are a noble now. Maybe not a man of noble birthright, but titled all the same. It doesn't matter what you were before."

Robin crossed his arms, "That's something I can agree with, at the least. Who I was before is dead. All that matters now is _who_ I am. Not even _what_ I am is important, and it shouldn't be." He insinuated.

"But still," Jordane insisted, "You are a noble, and nobles have a responsibility to produce an able heir to their station."

Robin growled, trying to maintain careful control, "This is a matter we discussed, and it is a matter which is closed. And has been for some time."

"But Robin, I'm not sure you understand fully. At least let me speak my peace," she begged.

"That's enough Jordane. Your peace has been said," Robin said.

The quiet and meek noble girl he thought he had known was all but a myth before him as she lost her grip.

"Robin you say to wait bu-"

Robin cut her off, "Enough _Lady_ Jordane."

She continued to speak. Robin walked away from her and sat back down in his desk chair.

"Lord Robin, you've told me to be patient and wait, that you are not ready for marriage yet, but this is my last chance," he was trying to ignore her now, hoping she would stop, "whence my father returns again he will take me back to be wed by another. I don't _have_ any more time," she said.

Robin put his face in his hand, his elbow rested atop his desk.

"I just. Can't. I don't know right now. I'm confused, and unsure of what I desire," he said.

"So there is something in your heart for me?" she questioned, accusatory, "It's that little wench of a dragon that-"She stopped in her tracks, and let out a soft gasp, "I'm sorry I didn't."

He didn't let her finish that statement.

Robin slammed his fist onto the desk, a small crack appeared, running vertically up one of the legs of the table.

"Guards!" he shouted.

His men burst into the room, weapons drawn, surprised at his sudden shout.

"My Lord Robin?" one of them said.

Robin took a deep breath, "Please escort Lady Jordane back to her suite. It's about the time of day when she meets with the princess, and she seems to have had a little too much wine. She could use some time to calm herself beforehand."

"Yes my Lord," the men saluted, "Come along Lady Jordane. Take my arm now."

Jordane bowed her head in defeat, and interlocked her elbow properly with the guard.

She stopped for a moment and looked back at him, and said, "Good day Lord Robin," before turning and allowing his men to guide her away.

He said nothing back, in turn choosing to turn back to his desk and pick up his quill as his door was closed. He had a fire report to write.

Robin bowed before Chrom. He made a show of it. There were many nobles in the court that day. All of them wanted to know about the fire. His written report was being passed around, but he was likewise expected to speak of what he found, and should he need, vocally fix any errors in this report.

Chrom spoke, "Rise, tactician," Robin stood from his kneeled position, "Speak."

"My lord. As the report mentions, five days ago I left Ylisstol, leading eleven mages armed with Fimbulvetr, and fifteen Ylissean Knights to ensure the safety of the mages. Around noon on the second day, we reached the location assumed to be the fire's origin. There the mages and I agreed that the fire's origin was indeed a magical one. It was agreed upon that the most likely culprit for the start of this fire was a rogue mage, or even a powerful outlaw magician."

"And you, the tactician, saw fit to not lead your small militant force in pursuit of one mage?" a noble said.

Robin bowed low, "Duke Themis. There are two reasons I deemed it inappropriate to pursue the offender, perhaps even three. The first was that while the offender may yet be at large, I made the decision that stopping the fire was of upmost importance. Beside this point there were no tracks leading anywhere away from the burnt forest, I could assume, because of this that either the offender died with the fire, meaning there is no worry, or it might mean that a force including wyverns, or pegasi is involved. Which brings me to my third point, a force powerful enough to attract such skill as flying combatants is likely more than large enough to handle the small force I had," Robin breathed, content with his speech.

The Duke of Themis merely grunted, choosing to say no more.

Chrom spoke again, "Anyone who desires questions, speak now."

There was a low grumbling in the massive circle of nobles around the court. It appeared as if they were quietly discussing the matter. Robin was patient as the nobles quietly discussed up and down the rows. Eventually, it was somehow unanimously agreed upon that they were done discussing things, and an elderly man stood up.

"The court has nothing more to say on this matter your grace," he said.

Chrom stood from his throne, followed by every other member of court. Robin yet again knelt down in front of Chrom.

"Very well then," Chrom began, "I decree this matter dismissed. Rise Lord Tactician Robin, you are free to leave."

Robin stood again, and bowed low, before removing himself from the spacious chamber. Some random noble that Robin had yet to be acquainted with passed him by for his own turn at the courts. The man lifted his nose to Robin, perhaps not knowing who he was.

Being the royal tactician afforded him rank above most people in the kingdom, barring the few dukes and the royal family. In war, Chrom was the only person who could outright veto his word. He didn't much care for the habits of nobles or the status of rank, yet he attempted to at least be educated in propriety. That was a truly boorish man, arrogant enough to wear a cloak inside the castle.

Behind him, just as the doors closed, Robin heard something he hadn't heard in a long time. It was the blood curdling scream of a woman. The guards immediately threw the great, gold embellished doors open again and Robin rushed passed them into the giant chamber.

In the middle of the room, Chrom himself was locking blades with the noble that Robin had not recognized. Across the room, Frederick was rushing forwards, but was slowed by his armor. On the other side of the room, from the entrance, Robin sprinted forward, drawing his blade, as did the guards following behind him.

The would-be-assassin saw what was coming for him, and reacted in a way that none of them in the room could have expected. He dropped his guard, and Robin saw in his hand a yellow tome, signifying electricity. Chrom managed to slash the assassin before he cast his spell.

The room was illuminated in a blinding hot light, followed by the deafening crack of thunder. A massive gaping whole opened in the ceiling. Frederick tackled Chrom away from the gigantic stone blocks as they fell. Likewise, Robin and the guards dove away from the center of the room shielding their heads and necks. A small fist sized piece of stone struck his shoulder for a glancing blow, and he knew that it would bruise horribly. The debris cracked down onto the floor, creating massive cracks in the stone floor.

Robin heard the whinny of a horse, and knew that the failed assassin was escaping through the whole he had made in the roof. Quickly as he could, Robin regained his footing on the now uneven ground and immediately commanded the guards.

"Bring word to Taxia Cordelia to mobilize the Pegasus knights," he commanded, before halting, "scratch that, scramble the guard into high alert, I'll do it myself. No one gets in or out without special notice. Check with Sir Frederick. Somebody else go and find Princess Lissa. Escort her to her room. I want two men on her balcony garden, and three men outside her door."

The castle guards barely had time to salute him before he was sprinting to the Pegasus roost, which was built onto a massive stone platform connected to the castle. It was at least four flights of stairs into the sky. The platform had a thick layer of dirt to facilitate for softer landings. Really it was a great display of Ylissean power. No other similar structure existed in the world.

The amazing architecture did nothing for him then, as he sprinted up the stairs 3 at a time, flying passed the royal embroidery along the walls. He landed at the top of the stairs, completely breathless, but continued running towards the Pegasus knights' barracks, which was likewise up on the platform. Somebody some him coming, and soon Cordelia was jogging out to meet him.

"What is it Robin," she asked, stopping in front of him.

Robin gulped air, "Assassin. He failed. Escaped… by Pegasus, mobilize the knights. It looked like he was headed to the northwest, but he may have doubled back or picked a new direction. Check all the likely spots. Nobody got a good look at him, except maybe Chrom. He was cloaked. The Pegasus had a small brown patch of fur under the left wing I think," Robin stopped to breathe for a moment, "The man was about my height, but slimmer by some small margin."

Cordelia whistled, and waved her hand. Someone came running immediately. The knight stopped and saluted them both.

"Ma'am. My Lord," she said.

"Get everyone in the air. We have a traitor of the crown to catch. Robin's height. Slimmer build. Brown spot under the left wing of the Pegasus. Northwest. Send them in all directions just in case. Everyone should carry their royal seal, they won't be able to get back to the castle otherwise," directed.

Soon the grounds were crowded with pegasi and their knights doing last minute checks on saddles and wings. Cordelia, mounted on her own flying steed, stood at the head of the quickly forming flight formation to chase directly after the assassin. Other knights in smaller groups would go in all directions and search thoroughly.

There was nothing more he could do here. He couldn't fly a Pegasus very well, and he knew that riding double with any of the knights would only hinder them. Robin rubbed his temples. This was going to be a long day, and a long night, and a long week, until they found the culprit, or all signs were lost.

Robin headed back down the staircase. Much slower, yet still at a steady pace beyond leisure. He still had some work to do with Frederick about security. First though, before that, he would report to Chrom.

He found the Exalt sitting on his throne in the court room with Libra. Several attendants ran about. Robin noticed a local architect inspecting the damage. As Robin drew nearer, he could see that Libra was concentrating on magically stitching together a cut across Chrom's arm. There would be no scarring.

Robin stopped in front of Chrom, and grunted.

"I got Cordelia to mobilize the Knights. They're in pursuit as we speak," Robin said.

Chrom sighed, "Good. That'll appease the court."

Robin nodded in understanding, "I suppose that the knights won't catch him. They're too young and inexperienced," Robin glanced around the Court room, "I see Frederick has gotten to work."

"Yes," Chrom agreed, "It's a wonder that he isn't right next to me right now. Frederick is going around and assessing all of the larger rooms for their viability and dependability. This part of the castle isn't the safest right now, and won't be for some time. The estimates are running that it is going to take at least a few weeks for them to get measurements in and get the stone cut for the rebuilding. Then they have to do the actual fixing of the room. It might not be done for a few months."

Suddenly Chrom started laughing, it was a throaty laugh from the man he hadn't heard in a while. It was the kind of laugh one might produce in the face of an ironic situation.

"What is it Chrom?" Robin said.

"I was just thinking something, Robin," Chrom leaned against his uninjured arm, "That was the best and most exciting thing to happen to me since I've been crowned. And I could have died." Chrom snorted out a laugh again.

"Yes I suppose that did add a bit of excitement to your day," Robin said, dryly, "I suppose I'll be saddled with the paperwork again too. Hmm." Robin put his hand to his chin.

"Don't worry. I'll find somebody else to do it. It involves moving a lot of money around, so perhaps I can load it onto the treasurer."

Robin just smiled and let Chrom do his plotting. He liked to joke about, but Robin knew that Chrom would end up doing a lot of the work, and a lot of the stress, no matter what he said.

"Have fun with that Chrom, I'm going to go to my room and rest for a bit. Maybe I'll take a nap until morning. It's been a long day. Let me know what goes down in the morning." Robin began walking away.

There was literally nothing else he could do to help the castle in its current situation. He was a tactician, as much as he wanted to be a politician at times. There would be interrogations, but he wouldn't see light of them. Frederick could organize the guard on his own, and Robin knew the knight let him assist out of some form of pity. His job, reacting, had been done. The Pegasus knights would take some days in an attempt to track down the culprit, or return at all.

In the meantime there was nothing he could do save busying himself with worry over ifs and hows. Most of the work he did was technically not his job, and Robin knew Chrom dumped extra work on him to keep him from boredom. Ylisse's standing army was virtually nonexistent, and what few troops they kept around were paid well and lived in middle district of Ylisstol.

Robin could relate to them as career soldiers. When not at war, their only job was to keep themselves sharp and ready. Robin's job was similar. He was to study tactics, invent new tactics, and do some light paperwork and documentation on the side.

As Robin made his way back to his suite, he took note of how often new patrols of the castle guard passed by. Robin quickly realized that Frederick had pentupled the number of rounds that the guards made. He counted no less than fifteen patrols from the court to his door. By morning he was certain they would calm down. The guards couldn't keep up such a workload for too long.

His room's guards were not present, and he assumed Frederick had taken them for patrols.

Across the room, and through the door to his office, Robin found a concise letter from Frederick noting the occurrence of his missing guards, and too take it to the knight himself if he had complaints. The note prompted Robin to do a mental shrug.

The only reason he had guards was because Chrom insisted. Likely it was just a tradition for the Royal Tactician to have guards. He was an important man after all, and he probably had many enemies. There was no secret to his location. As an Ylissean tradition of social rules and law, anyone who had done the necessary paperwork, noble or not, could meet with him or even Chrom.

Not having guards was not much of a bother. People in the castle knew not to bother him without emergency. At one point the maids stopped coming in at night to clean his chamber pot out, which was useless anyway. Chrom had had a type of sewage system implemented in the royal suites, and there were no longer any uses for such things. For Robin at least.

The maids didn't even come in the morning to prepare him a fresh set of clothing, and though it had been offered to him, they were not allowed to dress him either.

Robin sighed. His reminiscing was getting him nowhere. Those were simple things. Being alone, and not busy was getting him nowhere. So much had happened in a single day.

He had spent the morning carrying Nowi on horseback and then through the castle to the healers quarters, and he would never stop complaining about how heavy she was. Then his fight with Jordane, which even now, several hours later, brought his blood to boil thinking about.

Thinking about her now didn't bring any of the wistful thinking as it had before. He had genuinely cared for her. He didn't know if he had cared for her in such a way as to marry her, but he did know that her panicked words made him angry. Nowi didn't deserve that kind of treatment.

Even now he was growing more angry thinking about it and he didn't know why. Wishing to calm himself Robin walked out to his balcony and looked out over the ledge at were the Ylissean hills met the darkening sky. The beautiful view did nothing to dampen his high emotions.

He stood there, leaning against the fencing of his balcony, and stewing in his thoughts. He couldn't help it, and without anything to distract him, he wasn't sure if he could stop his circular emotional reason. It was just an echo chamber for his anger and other emotions he didn't like, or wasn't sure about.

As he stood watching the night end of the sunset, the entire side of the castle cast in one long shadow, he tasted the salt of his anger, and reveled in it. He allowed it to flow until he was physically drained. Then he went to bed.

Nowi walked alongside Lissa through the castle. She was up and about so soon through no small amount of will power. She was grateful for the dress she currently wore, which did much to hide her shaky steps and wobbly legs, still weak, and now that her bath was over and she had cooled down, they were quite sore. It felt like she had overexerted every muscle in her body, and she knew that she had.

Nowi looked through a passing window as she followed Lissa back to her room to retrieve her Dragonstone. She was dressed in light and flowy dress that was, thankfully, incredibly modest. Nowi didn't wear dresses often. But then again, a year ago she didn't wear a whole lot all. Not much covered to retain her decency.

She had gotten used to such modesty, and was thankful that it was no longer terribly uncomfortable to wear, as she would likely not be going back to her old form of dress until she was alone and traveling again.

"You lied to me Lissa. It's fairly late in the day," she said, judging by the longer shadows.

"Oops," Lissa said, " Silly ol' me. I seem to have lost track of time. I was so busy with you that I missed afternoon tea with a young visiting noble. How shameful." Lissa rose the back of her hand to her forehead in a dramatic fashion.

Nowi chuckled.

Lissa didn't want to tell her who, but Nowi all but knew for certain who Lissa had been talking about. She did her best to ignore an anxious feeling she had in her stomach.

That was when a guard rushed up to them.

"Princess Lissa. My Lady. It is Lord Robin's orders for you to be escorted to your room," Then the guard turned to her, "I apologize Miss Nowi, but only Princess Lissa will be permitted in her room at this time."

The guard bowed to her, and as she escorted Lissa away, Lissa waved.

Nowi smiled and waved back, as soon as Lissa had rounded the corner, Nowi let out a breath that she hadn't know she was holding in. Immediately she had to take in a few deep breathes to calm herself.

In, _it's okay Nowi. She still has it._ Out, _the Dragonstone isn't going anywhere. It'll be there when you get to it._ In, _you're in control. You are calm._ Out, _you don't need it right now. You are going to live,_ she assured herself.

Hoping the anxiety wasn't obvious on her face, Nowi slowly made her way down to the dining hall, hoping for some place to sit for a while. She didn't actually have any lodgings prepared for herself. The first night she'd been back she slept on Robin. After that, she had slept in a burning forest, and then on Robin's horse, and in then Robin's arms...

It made her chest ache to think about it so she decided to think about something else. Anything else. Something distracting.

 _What about opposite thoughts?_ Nowi though, _I don't like that noble girl, yeah that's the opposite of Robin- oops. No, bad. Not now._

"Hey, Dragon Girl. Over this way."

 _Speak of the Devil incarnate._

Nowi searched for the voice, quickly locating it down a small servant's passage. The voice sent small shivers of not quite describable emotions down her spine.

Nowi walked over to the passage, "Yes my lady?" Nowi pursed her lips together, trying to avoid a scowl.

"I don't need any silly pleasantries or honorifics from you, you damn dragon. I have something you want."

"What?" Nowi said, genuinely confused.

The young woman in front of her nonchalantly examined her fine, and well cared for fingernails for a moment before responding again.

"I have a certain little rock in my possession. Something I'm sure you would want."

Nowi nearly assaulted her then and there, and she wanted to avoid being provoked at all costs. She wouldn't be able to overpower the noble lady anyway.

"Give it to me. It's mine, and you know it. It has no use to you," Nowi growled.

The woman in front of her chuckled softly, "That's where you're wrong dear stupid girl. I can turn that stone to dust if I wanted. If you want it back you'll have to do as I say to the letter."

Nowi genuinely scowled at the woman, "What do you want."

"Foolish girl. It isn't about what I want, now is it? It's all about _you_. It was you all along. And you'll get it. I've prepared a special place for us, where we will be all alone and have all the time in the world. Meet me in the royal court at sundown tomorrow. I assure you nobody will be there to disturb us…."


	11. Transformations

**A/N: Edit: the weird text stuff was back after 9 chapters of freedom. thanks be to the reviewers for saving me again. I wouldn't have noticed on my own for a little while.**

Nowi walked towards the court, or rather, where is used to be held. She had learned from Sumia, accompanied by a small contingent of guards the night before, of what had transpired the day before as she spent time with Lissa. The knowledge of the assassination attempt made several things yesterday seem to make more sense.

She had noticed an over-abundance of guards about. Lissa had been taken to her room, where she could be under closer surveillance. And most challenging of all, she had been unable to leave the grounds of the castle. The place was on full lockdown. Still bustling as ever, but on lockdown all that same.

Now she was nervously making her way to the Royal Court. She was certain that she was the only one who knew that Jordane had been the mask with the money behind the assassination attempt. Nobody probably even suspected anything at all of Jordane. It was likely that she wouldn't even be questioned.

Nobody would question a noble's _daughter_. If Jordane's movements were discovered it would be her father who would suffer the fire. Nowi knew enough about Ylissean society to know that.

Nowi drew no attention to herself as she walked through the hallways, wearing another dress Lissa lent her. Soon, she was passed the point where the castle was populated. Chrom had decreed the area around the court room unsafe due to the injured structure. It was all well and good for Jordane. Not even guard patrols went down the last few hallways. It was the perfect spot for a secret meeting.

Nowi wouldn't have thought the young lady to be the plotting type, but then again. She was a noble, and the daughter of a long noble line. She was likely well versed in the art of subterfuge, and Nowi knew that misdirection was an art.

Nowi stepped into the quickly darkening chamber, the light chill of a spring night beginning to set in. Nobody had bothered to light the torches and candles that were normally kept burning all day, and every day, lest the need for court arise at some ungodly hour.

Nowi walked into the room, choosing to avoid the center as best as possible, where there was still some of the larger stone debris, still to be taken away.

"Good evening Nowi. I have your rock." Nowi heard Jordane's irreverent voice.

Nowi turned to it scowling. Then her scowl dropped immediately, because she caught the scent of something absolutely revolting. She nearly recoiled from the horrid stench, and had to cover mouth to hide her gag.

Jordane held in her hand a short sword, dripping with an odd yellow substance. Any normal person who smelled it would be reminded of something akin to rotting fruit, but that was just the smell of the stuff. It was a powerful poison, and a potent drug. Of course, a normal person would have to have their nose touching the stuff to be able to get a whiff of the stench.

Jordane chuckled, "I don't suppose that you know what this stuff is." She grinned.

"I followed all of your instructions. I came alone. I came unarmed. I told no one, and you bring a weapon," Nowi said, even as she gulped air.

She could feel her hands go cold and her heartrate quicken.

 _Not again. Never again. Except this time will kill me._

Jordane took a winning pose, "the toxin on this sword, good for perhaps one or two uses, was made specifically for… _your_ kind… a small mouthful, taken orally, would make one weak, simple minded, and prone to suggestion. A single drop put directly into the blood stream would have the same effect. Now the amount of it on this blade, if I were to cut you, would almost certainly kill you.

"It would take a lot of time. Yes you would be conscious and in agony for hours, maybe even a full day. Unable to move or to seek help. Unable to speak or doing anything except hurt. Then you would die." Jordane gave her a cruel smile.

It was one of few toxins that could harm a manakete, and it was perhaps the weakest and worst of them all. Any toxin able to harm a manakete had to be crafted with dark magic. Natural ones couldn't even make them feel drunk, let alone weak or pained. They're use had passed out of common knowledge centuries ago perhaps millennia ago, yet there were still some who made it. The Grimleal for example.

Jordane was in the way of the only none flying exit.

"No blood needs to be shed here tonight. You can just give me my Dragonstone and we can walk out of here. No pain. No harm. No investigations," Nowi said, attempting to reason with the noble lady.

"You're right. No investigations dragon girl," she spat, "Nobody cares enough about you to go look for the culprit. They're too busy looking for a different assassin."

 _You're wrong. Shut up._

"You're wrong and you know it. I have people that would care. I can think of a couple of powerful names right now, who would not stop at anything." Nowi shuddered, choking back her own panic.

 _Gods. Dear mother Naga. Mom. Please I don't want to lose control again._

"What? You thinking anyone cares enough. People of power- don't make me laugh! Chrom? He'ed do something, maybe, if he wasn't so busy covering for his own assassination attempt, then the trail would be cold. Who else? Robin? He doesn't care about you. He's going to go away with me soon. I had a talk with him yesterday. He all but said that he was going to marry me. Something to the effect of oh, 'I love you, and I might consider marrying you.' " she laughed.

"You're lying Jordane. Robin wouldn't ever marry someone like you. Someone with so much hatred in them could never hope to have anything with man like him." She hoped that her voice didn't sound as shaky as she felt like it had.

"Hah! What do you know? Who has been talking to him for months, while you were out gallivanting around to wherever? Who kept him company while the precious little dragon bitch girl was throwing jealous hissy fits? Your days as his whore are over," she had madness in her eyes.

"Stop! Just stop okay. I can't,-" she hiccupped, "Just stop. You're wrong."

Jordane continued, all but ignoring the distressed manakete in front of her.

"Don't get me started on Princess Lissa. I had tea with her today you know. To make up for missing it with me yesterday. You know what I found out from her. She told me about her horrible bathing experience. The little ugly manakete girl. Those scars on her back? The ones down her arms? You are disgusting. Nobody would ever love such a disgusting body. Not even your own monstrous people would accept you if they saw those. You are a worthless creature."

Nowi fell to the cold stone floor, her face in her hands sobbing, and breathing so hard that she couldn't get enough air. Her hand over her mouth did little stop the ugly sounds from escaping her body, and only made it harder to take in enough air.

It was so true that it hurt her. The stabbing pain in her throat and lungs when she was near Robin could not lie to her. Relationships were important to the manakete. Interfering with relationships, and by extension, ruining them, was a grave crime. What Robin felt for Jordane had been truer than what he felt for her. It was a fact that she couldn't hide from or deny, because the magic of her race wouldn't let her.

As she sat broken on the floor, Nowi heard a soft clatter against the stone floor. It was the bouncing sound of something falling against the stone. The sudden sound caused Nowi to look up still hiccupping.

"You have two options," Jordane said, holding up two fingers, "One. You take your stone and get out leave from the ceiling and never be seen again. Live your meager life alone forever. Option two, I kill you and then spit on the body," Jordan smiled wickedly, "Take your pick."

A small hope ascended from Nowi's inner being. An escape. A way out. Survival.

Nowi zeroed in on the Dragonstone, which had scittered to a stop in the center of the room, just under a large looming boulder, heavy enough to crush her stone, if it so chose to roll over. As quickly as her wibbly body would let her she scrambled for the precious stone. Her only life line. As she reached the most important thing, she didn't pay attention to the evil figure looming over her, sword arm raised high.

"No!" it was a strangled gasp of rage and fear.

Robin walked down the long and lonesome hallways lost in thought. Slightly, nervously excited. Also he was more than a little bit confused. A little earlier in the day, he received a small note, written in a semi-sloppy handwriting he had never seen before. On it were just a few simple words.

 _Damaged court room. Arrive after sunset. There's a special present wrapped up for you. Tell no one._

The curiosity hit him like a truck, and, like a fool, he had immediately gotten up from his business and left to check the currently abandoned court room. It was empty of any sign of current life. In a few weeks, once the stone had arrived, the place would be bustling with craftsmen from the masonry guild.

There was no sign of his "present," so he assumed he would weight. The letter had given him an odd giddy feeling. It wasn't excitement. It was more akin to worry. A feeling similar to a battlefield of tension. It was the silence before something was going to happen, and his instinct warned him to not participate in the letter, but his mind told him it may be important. For once, his mind won out in the primal battle. He was set in stone to go, quietly and discretely.

In fact he was on his way to his rooms in order to grab a few weapons in case of a trap. Just a few things. One of each tome. A sword… a dagger… a hidden dagger for his boot…. A hidden dagger for his coat. One could never be too careful when dealing with shady business.

It was in this contemplative state on his way to his rooms, that Lissa, with an entourage of Frederick's guards, approached him with a question.

"Hey Robin there you are. Have you seen Nowi anywhere?" She said.

"Not at all," Robin replied," I figure, that if anyone knew where she was, it'd be you. You've been spending a lot of time with her lately have you not?"

"Well she can't be too far away," Lissa pondered, "The castle is closed down, at least for a little while longer. She couldn't have left the guards wouldn't disobey a royal order. Not even for a divine dragon, baring Naga herself. She couldn't have even flown from the palace."

"Why not?" Robin interjected, leaning against a pillar and stopping all movement, "You did give her the Dragonstone back right?"

"No," Lissa said, "I left it in my room, so I could give it to her later, but then the whole lockdown happened. It doesn't matter anyway, when I was back in my room, I couldn't find it. It was as if the stone had up and walked out on its own. I was hoping you might have it or have had seen it," she mumbled the last part.

Robin grew even more suspicious of the letter, and drew one conclusion and one conclusion only. An inkling of a plan allowed itself into his head. He wasn't the Royal Tactician for nothing.

"I see. Perhaps Jordane might have picked it up, and simply forgotten to put it back down? She was probably waiting in your room for some time for tea, until you didn't show and then the emergency happened. She might have accidently taken it with her," Robin said, putting his skills to the test.

"I don't know maybe. You know, Nowi doesn't much like Jordane," Lissa said, frowning.

"What? I didn't know," Robin feigned.

He knew, kind of. He knew Jordane didn't like Nowi.

Lissa pursed her lips, "I guess Nowi hasn't spoken a whole lot to you recently."

Robin sighed, completely genuine this time, "Yeah. Much less than I'd like. She seems to have been avoiding me."

Robin leaned in close to Lissa and put a hand up to her ear. Lissa's guards moved forward to separate them, but Lissa waved them off.

"I'm having a bit of a… err secret… meeting with Lady Jordane later tonight. Perhaps I could inquire of the curious rock she found then. Maybe," he whispered, loud enough for the guards to hear him too.

He gave her a light pat on the shoulder as he walked passed her and went on his merry way. As he passed by the guards, they gave him knowing looks, but where smart enough to not say anything.

Lissa watched as Robin walked down the hallway towards his suite, whistling a happy tune. She did her best to keep her face placid for her guards as he left.

"I fear I may need to relieve myself," she said to her shadows.

The leader bowed, "Of course milady Princess Lissa. Come along, we shall escort you."

Lissa meekly followed them along, hands clasped together in the front of her, walking with grace. At the royal private bathing room, two of the men left her to inspect the room. She waited patiently until they returned, allowing her to enter.

Once she was alone, she first made her excuse true and realistic. She left something in the chamber pot for the maids to clean. Then she made sure to rub her arms with scented lotion. Her task done, she quickly read the letter Robin had subtly placed in the shoulder of her blouse. The words she read, coupled with the familiar handwriting, made her frown.

Robin set about collecting the necessary things. He grabbed spell books and put the, in their pockets, he normally only carried a thunder tome. He strapped his sword to his belt, and his many knives to their many places.

 _I'll need some coin too. Retrieving the Dragonstone could be easy, but she might hold it for ransom. Maybe some vulnerary. Lissa might not catch the hint._

It was growing close to the time he was supposed to be there, but he wanted to be there a bit early. It would be good for him to beat the Princess there. Perhaps he could keep things civil if he showed up as the letter required.

With his materials of war and commerce gathered, Robin set about getting to his destination discreetly. If anyone asked, he had an excuse. It was quicker to get to the training yard through the now abandoned area of the castle.

Luckily his luck held, and Robin wasn't bothered, though some passing guards and frustrated nobles gave him a few interesting looks as he passed them laden with war. Robin showed his most relaxed, yet purposeful stride, as if he really was going out to the training yards.

As he walked towards the abandoned court, he had to keep his now active and excited tactician's mind at bay. His knowledge and experience told him of a thousand different ways things could go horribly wrong.

There could be a trap. Lissa could arrive too early. Poison. Murder. He brought them to bear by calming himself down. In his pocket he held a small stone blue-green stone. It was smooth, and gleamed when it caught the light just right. Holding on to it did much to calm his nerves.

Robin neared the great circular room, and even from his distance he could see something he didn't want to see. He quietly drew his sword and crept forward. He witnessed Jordane throw Nowi's Dragonstone, and the ensuing scramble as Nowi moved desperately to retrieve.

He saw Jordan move forward, her sword arm raised, and time slowed down. He rushed forward, faster than his legs should have carried him.

"No!" he both shouted and growled. His voice seemed to fill the room and reverberate throughout it.

He could feel his coat ripping in several places when he blocked the sword blow with his forearm. He immediately lost control of his right arm, dropping his blade to the ground as Jordane's sword bit into his muscular arm, severing the muscles.

She looked shocked, then a maniacal smile showed itself on her face. She looked over his face, and what she saw pleased her greatly he could smell it on her. She stared at his fangs. He looked at her throat with all six of his eyes.

"You have returned, my Lord Gr-"she was choked off, as he gripped her throat with his good arm.

He lifted her into the air using unhuman strength, as he gripped her with elongated claws, pitch black. She didn't fight him as he slowly, purposefully crushed her neck.

Behind him he heard the nervous neigh of a horse, and turned to see a cloaked man running at him wielding naught but a small blade. His other hand held a yellow tome. Upon looking upon him the returning assassin died. He fell over and his soul left him.

The woman in the grip of his left arm would not receive such fortune. She stared at him, content to die. This anger him. He willed her to fight and struggle. Suddenly, the light of panic grew in her content eyes, and she began gasping and swinging around in his grip. Her face turned red and purple before him. Nonetheless he kept up the steady increase in pressure. Not enough to kill her.

He suddenly felt an annoying presence gripping his right leg.

"Robin! Robin stop. She's going to die!" the pest cried out.

 _Who is Robin?_

He ignored the petty creature and continued with his slow and loving task. The woman in his grip only continued to grow more panicked as she could breathe less, and less. It made him smile. She was his lover in that moment, as she fed him her life.

Her eyes bulged from her head, and suddenly, they popped from their place. She fell limp in his arm. Her soul left her. He dropped the empty woman to the ground and looked around for another target. He continued to ignore the pest at his leg

His six eyes laid themselves on another. A girl, who stood paralyzed in fear, and beside her a man holding something he feared.

"You." His voice invaded their minds. The girl, obviously the weak one, fell to her knees from the pain of his voice.

For some reason he couldn't kill them. They wouldn't feed him. His stare did nothing. He charged forward on six wings unfurled, intent on having them. Something was wrong though, and he was slow. He couldn't go faster, and felt sluggish as he charged.

"I'm sorry," the man said.

Out from Robin's back came the tip of Falchion, gleaming black.


	12. What is a Manakete?

Chatpoter 12

 **A/N: phew.**

 **Disclaimer: no I do not own Fire Emblem, and am not affiliated with the company. My only relation with Fire Emblem is all the money I've spent buying the games and orbs. Dear Naga it's a lot.**

The first thing Robin could sense when he woke up was the smell. He could smell a lot of things, and for some reason he knew that they meant. What he smelled then confused him. From multiple people he could smell deep concern. It was an odor that pervaded the room. A desire to hold on, or to shake him around. Anger, depression, sadness. He could sense it all, and it felt natural.

Robin sprung awake, sitting straight up, before he suddenly felt weak, and fell back down onto the bed. Everyone in the room gasped in surprise.

"Nowi," he rasped.

"Robin? Are you okay?" Nowi stepped forward.

"Nowi. Are you okay?" Robin repeated.

She seemed weak in the knees. In fact as if she was about collapse. And she did. She fell to her knees and sat at eye level to him.

"I'm perfectly fine Robin. Now. I am," she forced a smile, he could tell now.

It felt so intrusive on their emotions, not just Nowi's but everyone else's.

Robin sighed, "I feel weak all over," Robin wiggled his feet, "it's kind of hard to move around. Especially my right arm. I can barely get any motion out of it."

Everyone in the room winced.

Then Lissa stepped forward, "Lady- err Lady Jordane's sword had some kind of toxin on it. Nowi told us about it. With Libra's confirmation we found that some extensive damage was done to your forearm. Uh Miriel's been in and out a few times to look at it. It seems she's studied various poisons and venoms. She couldn't come up with any conclusive reason as to why your arm didn't heal properly. You may want to learn how to use your left hand, at least until we get this figured out."

Robin understood the meaning. _If_ they figured it out.

"Does anyone know what happened? Outside of this room I mean." He asked, attempting to divert the subject.

Chrom groaned, "I'm afraid I couldn't keep all of the eyes away. The Exalt and Princess speedily walking through the hallways without an escort kind of draws attention. There are already whispers in the hallways and at court."

Robin sighed, "Well, what are you all looking at? Someone get me seated upright. Someone bring me a desk and some paper and a pen. I've got some practice to do." His joke incited some quiet chuckles from them all.

Chrom spoke up, "Nay Robin. You should rest. I gave you a nasty sword wound and you are weak. We all have some business to attend to in order to clear things up," his eyes glanced to Nowi, "Mostly. Rest up and recover Robin. We'll deal with the rest," he said.

Chrom, Lissa, and Frederick stepped out of the room, leaving him alone and feeling slightly awkward with Nowi.

Robin, still lying in the bed, asked Nowi a question, "Can you tell me what happened? I remember, kind of, and it makes me want to shudder and vomit."

Nowi for her part, didn't react in any odd way, only resting her arms on the bed, and her chin on her arms.

"Uh, well. It was pretty scary. Uh, you kind of, turned into ah dragon-man-thing…. It… went by too fast for me to really understand what was happening, but there was a lot of blood, and- Robin you killed two people. Jordane suffered so much. I told them what she did." She buried her face in the blanket, trying not to dredge up the horrible memory in any terrible prospect.

"I see." Robin couldn't say anything else, lest he make light of his own actions.

He knew he had killed Jordane, yet he didn't remember how he did it. He wasn't sure he wanted to know. He hoped she was in a better place.

Robin did his best to turn himself on his side, so that he could better look at Nowi. She seemed to be a little bit drowsy.

"Nowi?" he questioned.

She jerked her head up, "What?"

Robin sighed, "Do you want up here with me? I promise I won't bite. I don't think I could."

Reluctantly, Nowi crept up onto the bed and lay rigged next to him. He could sense a slight fear in her.

"If you don't want to its fine," Robin said.

"No-no I'm fine," she said, and relaxed slightly.

Robin decided to attempt conversation with her then, as the heat of her body mixed with his own.

"Lissa mentioned something about a poison. You knew something about it, and told her didn't you?" Robin asked.

Nowi rolled over to look at him, "Yes I. It's not a very… fun poison, and I've-" she gagged suddenly, covering her mouth, "Sorry." Her voice came out muffled.

"It's fine you don't have to continue. I don't really need to know," he said.

Genuinely if it cause such a reaction from her, he didn't need to know about it.

Nowi removed her hands from her mouth, "No it's perfectly fine. You do _need_ to know. It is a good little precursor into a much more important conversation."

Robin chuckled.

"Sorry, it's hard to take you, or us, seriously when we are just lying here in the same bed."

Nowi moved as to get out of the bed, "I'll just get out then, you probably don't want me here anything."

Robin let out a loud exasperated sigh that stopped Nowi in her tracks. She froze for a second, before slowly lowering herself back down. Robin just smiled at her.

"Well. I guess. The poison… it's only effective on manakete. It doesn't do much to humans. Maybe make them a little bit sleepy," Nowi said nervously.

Robin's eyes widened in understanding at her words. They were heavy words, and their meaning was not lost on him. Instead of speaking he let her continue.

"So, after hearing how the toxins in Jordane's… Jordane's sword, had affected you, I was… shocked. While everybody was busy, I went and checked out your coat, just to add a little extra confirmation. Robin? Are you listening?" Nowi said.

"I'm still listening," he confirmed for her.

"Okay," she said, and scooted closer until her body was pressed against his own, " I checked your coat out to confirm something Robin. Lissa told me about something a little while ago. About the manakete book you've been reading. It seems to have some degree of accuracy to it. Do you know about a manakete's clothing?"

"I read a bit about it, but there wasn't any great detail on the subject. You can manifest a sort of armor using magic? It looks like clothing, and feels like clothing, but it's really strong," he said, attempting to not let his thoughts wander to the girl attached to him.

He wouldn't even be able to do anything if he tried.

"Pretty much it," she sniffed, "Have you ever taken a moment to notice anything odd about your coat. Does it feel odd to not be wearing it?" she questioned.

"I always felt uncomfortable to not be wearing my coat. Thinking about it now, I never seem to have to repair it, and it has been known to turn away glancing blows. Are you saying…" Robin trailed off.

"I think you might be a half-manakete. In fact I'm nearly certain," Nowi squeezed herself even closer to Robin then, "Tell me what do I smell like to you?"

Robin was taken aback slightly by the question, and her closeness, "Uh, honey?"

"Anything… out of the ordinary, or different?" she coaxed.

"You didn't used to smell like honey," he said, avoiding the answer she wanted.

Nowi grimaced at him, "I've been using honey oil on my hair recently. Anyone can smell it. Can you please take this seriously?"

Robin sighed from his inert position, "I can smell a lot of things Nowi. I can still smell the leftover concern from Lissa and Chrom. From you, I can sense a lot of things. I don't even know if smelling is the right word to use. It doesn't feel like I'm using my nose. What I can sense from you… it's… a lot of things I don't want to confront. Stuff that confuses me. There's stuff there that I can't physically confront right now."

It was a lot of emotion, or intention, or whatever, pointed all at him. And he didn't know why. He wasn't anything terribly special. Sure he was a manakete now. Was he ever not one? There were things there that he knew for a while, but still didn't want to bring them up.

"Robin…" it seemed to him she was going to say something, but then changed her mind, "You haven't inherited a lot of physical characteristics of the manakete, but last night you came into your power as one. The clothing thing is something a manakete can do from almost birth, but the other stuff, they come into it kind of like puberty, except all at once. It also means you are now subject to the ancestral laws of the manakete."

"You make it sound like it's a lot." Robin sighed.

"Robin…" she said, tracing lazy circles on his open bicep, he noticed that she did that when she was tired. Most of the time she was just drawing on her own palm, "Most of our kind have at least two decades to prepare for themselves," she looked him right in the eye, before grinning, "Just kidding. There's only a few, but each one is a Biggy. They don't actually come up too often, especially in manakete society. You won't have to worry too much.

"The first one is easy…" she nodded off for a second, "you can't fight another manakete for personal territory. That's one's a nono. The second one… the second… one is…" her head drooped onto his chest, "Just wake me up in the morning," She mumbled.

He was uncomfortable with her sleeping on him in such a way, but he also couldn't help but to like it. She lie at his side, curled in such a way that her head rested on his chest, and one of her leg was splayed over his waist. He may have been a manakete, but he didn't have the body temperature that she had. She was very hot to the touch. Her long hair lay over them both like a second blanket and he couldn't help but marvel at it.

Robin could only sigh into her embrace, and accept it. He couldn't move all that well anyway.

Morning again came swiftly. It was morning again, because he had slept for nearly an entire day, when the door to his private room opened and none other than Chrom himself came into the room accompanied by Libra.

Robin looked blearily up at the cleric- err priest, unable to sit up due to the dead weight on him. Indeed he looked down to see that Nowi had straddled him in their sleep.

The beautiful man had a slight frown on his face. Robin opened his mouth to say something, but when he breathed in he caught a mouthful of Nowi's hair. Case in point. It smelled like honey, but didn't taste so great.

"Good morning Robin. I see you had a nice night," Chrom deadpanned.

"hahaha shut up I can't move," Robin complained.

"I don't think I've ever had it _that_ good," Chrom joked.

"Exalt Chrom. Please milord," Libra begged.

"Sorry, sorry." Chrom wasn't sorry.

Robin, gently as he could coaxed Nowi awake. He wanted to see if he could stand yet.

"Nowi," he whispered into her ear. He gave her a gentle shake with his left arm.

She stirred slightly and groaned, before she unstuck herself from him. Quite literally there was a ripping sound as she pulled her face from his chest and neck. From the sudden cold rush to his throat, he knew that she left behind a sizable puddle of drool. Libra quickly handed him a small rag, which he used to wipe himself clean.

Nowi was a different story entirely. The entire left side of her face was plastered. She propped herself up with one hand, rubbing her eyes with the other. All her weight was going directly to his groin. An uncomfortable amount of weight. He didn't wish to draw attention to himself though.

Nowi stretched, arching her back and raising her hands high above her head, before needing to rest them back against his chest for balance, lest she fall over.

"Good morn'n Robby. Wha'd I miss?" Nowi said.

Robin glanced to both Libra and Chrom, then back up at Nowi, "Nothing much. It's morning."

Nowi looked straight at him and said, "That's too early to be up," before she promptly situated herself back on him.

His ensuing sigh was one of equal parts exasperation and relief at the eased discomfort below his waist.

"Nowi at least clean your face off before getting me all sticky again." She didn't react.

Robin got his a right elbow under her sternum to lift her up a little bit, he then wiped her face off as best he could, but Nowi shook away from his hand.

"No don't rub it so hard Robby. It huuurts." Nowi complained.

"Oh come on Nowi, you've taken worst. Stop being melodramatic," Robin said, chasing her face with his towel.

Chrom burst out laughing, and Libra coughed.

"If you'll excuse me I must be going," the priest said.

Chrom grabbed him by the shoulder, "No. stay. I need to make a royal decree. You can be my witness," Libra stopped and turned around, waiting patiently, "by the power vested in my, by the people of Ylisse and by Naga's grace, I now pronounce you, Robin, not allowed to get up and do stuff until you can get Nowi off on your own. Libra as my witness."

"I'm going," Libra escaped from the room.

"Oh come on Chrom," Robin complained. "She's really heavy."

"Hey!" Nowi said.

Chrom walked out the door after Libra, still snickering, "Have fun recuperating Robin!"

Nowi sat back up and pouted at him. He knew that she knew that she was causing him pain. She probably _felt_ that she was causing him pain. She smiled at him and wiggled her hips a little bit. He felt things bend in ways they weren't supposed to.

 _Yup she knows_

He gritted his teeth and attempted to sit up, at which point Nowi forced him back down onto the bed.

"Nu-uh mister. Not until you know how to be a manakete," Nowi said.

"What are you just going to sit on me until you've taught me everything you can?" Robin questioned.

"Yeah pretty much," was her response.

Robin's state as a manakete baffled her. His temporary physical weakness was normal, but his powers came in at an exceptionally late time, especially in relation to his physical maturity. As a manakete the only reason she knew that he was young, was because he had just attained his power. Her best guess was his status as a half manakete.

Once he was strong enough, she would also have to assist him in putting his power into a Dragonstone. For now she taught him about what she could do, and the laws and customs of the manakete. He wasn't necessarily subject to the customs of the manakete, but he had still wanted to know a bit of his heritage.

She kept her promise and sat on him the entire time. He wasn't exactly uncomfortable to sit on, but if she thought about it too much she would begin to get heated in the face. That would be perhaps the worst time for either of them to get heated, as she straddled his waist.

If it were up to her, he would take her then and there, but she had control. She also knew he was exhausted, sore, weak, and quite confused over his newfound race origin. It would not be an appropriate time. He was coping with it well though.

"I have a question," he asked her, "So I have my coat physically manifested all the time, but what about you? I've never seen you with your armor on. Why don't you use it?"

Nowi bit her lip, _I don't want him to know about them, but if things continue as they are, he might find out by accident, when I am unprepared to take whatever disgust he sends my way. I don't know if I can handle him hating me._

"W-well I've just, got some stuff I like to cover up. My armor doesn't do that," Her voice sounded tiny to her own ears.

"Well…." Robin said quietly, "If you don't want to show me, you shouldn't feel obligated to show me. Please don't feel obligated to do anything for me. I don't rightly feel like I deserve what you've done for me so far."

His words hardened her resolve to act.

"No," she fought down the nervous urge to vomit, "I think I'll let you see them. Just… cover your eyes, I need to be naked to put my other clothes on."

Robin immediately pulled his pillow out from under his head and covered his face with it.

"Ok," he said, "I won't look."

She took a deep breath and dismounted from his waist. She heard him let out a sigh, and realized that sitting on him in the exact same position for _hours_ might not have been comfortable for him. She felt a short guilty flash, but let it pass.

When she was a few steps away from the bed, she turned briefly to make sure that he actually was hiding his face. Thank Naga he was holding in his word.

Quickly Nowi pulled her blouse off and shimmied out of her skirts. She quickly pulled of her undergarments, leaving her totally naked and exposed to the room. With some forethought in mind, she stepped over to the door and slid the locking bolt into place, securing her privacy with Robin.

Now assured that she was safe, Nowi willed her usual outfit to cover what it would of her body. It was a sudden feeling of safety that rolled over her entire being as she felt the comfortable clothing come to rest on her body. It was bit strappy, but she had grown used to that style of clothing a very long time ago.

The entire outfit was basically one giant set of ribbons. In fact the only part of her body not currently decked out in ribbons was the cape, and thigh-high boots that came with the outfit, and she had forgone the cape with the purpose of showing Robin her back. She set her Dragonstone into the slotted necklace and watched it shrink and change shape to fit the slot. It was terribly convenient. She had never misplaced her Dragonstone until recently, when she didn't have a safe way to store it.

Slowly, nervously, Nowi turned around so that her back was to Robin, who still hiding his face.

She stood stiffly, "You can look now… Robin"

She heard the slight shuffle of him pulling the pillow from his eyes. Then silence for a moment. There was some more rustling, and then soft footfalls.

Nowi whirled around to see Robin unsteadily walking towards her. Before she could react. Before she could tell him to not touch her. He wrapped his arms around her body, covering her scars with his hands.

She felt something warm fall onto her exposed shoulder.

"Robin?" Nowi asked.

"I'm sorry," he whispered

"What?" she said.

"I know. It isn't my fault, but you didn't deserve this. I saw some of it when I found you in the forest, but you were too covered in ash to see clearly. Now… I've seen it all. Please don't run from me when you see this."

Before her eye's Robin took the rag from earlier in the day and scrubbed hard at his right hand. Tan smears rubbed off on to the piece of cloth, and under what had used to be his skin was a mark. It was purple, with six circles, lined up congruently in set of two across.

Nowi choked at the sight. Memories came in one after the other, brought to the surface by what she saw on his hand. Years, and months of captivity. The pain of knives cutting into her back. More recently a terrifying new manakete who caused the death of someone she hated. The cruel smile on his lips as he killed Jordane, as if he was tasting her death with his teeth.

She hadn't slept for the first night after, fearing nightmares. Now it was like she was living a nightmare, and Robin's tattoo pulsed strangely. It stopped on the one memory from two nights ago, and focused on Robin's horrible smile.

"Nowi!" Robin shook her.

He was attacking her. She could see him right in front of her.

"No," she shivered, "Why me. Why does it keep being me?" she pushed him away and it suddenly stopped.

She looked around suddenly back in the hospice. She gulped, and searched around. She found what she was looking for and ran to the trash receptacle. She emptied her stomach into the bin, and continued dry heaving. The world was spinning.

Suddenly, someone was pulling her hair back, and gently rubbing in-between her shoulders, near the base of her neck. She stood there bent over a trash bin, baring her ugly back to Robin and vomiting. He sat there and kept her hair out of the way, and comfortingly rubbed at the base of her neck.

She eventually felt the heaves stop. She was left leaning over the trash bin shivering from exertion. The sudden nausea and vertigo she felt was all but disappeared, leaving her with a gross feeling. She hated vomiting. There wasn't much of a worse feeling.

Nowi sat down there on the floor, and noticed that Robin was now on the other side of the room. Beside a small stool stacked with towels, and a bucket beside it, filled with bloody ones. She knew that the bloody ones were all his. There had been so much blood.

Once Robin had his towel he was back over to where she was.

"Do you want some help, or are you good to clean yourself up?" he asked, holding the towel out.

She reached out to take the towel from him, "I'm fine to clean myself up thanks." As she took the towel from him, she nervously glanced at his right hand, where the tattoo was covered in bandages. He must have covered it up when she wasn't looking.

Robin seemed to notice her glance, "I shouldn't have revealed the tattoo. Its cursed or something. Before she left to Plegia again, I had Tharja look at it, and she told me there was nothing she could do for me. It seems to be a remnant from my past." Robin sighed, rubbing at his face, "What did it show you?"

Nowi looked away from him, "I don't want to talk about it."

She really didn't want to talk about it. Thankfully Robin didn't press the matter further. She wiped around her mouth and nose, and down her chest to make sure that she got all of the corrosive stuff.

Robin made an about face, and walked back over to his bed, "Well I'm not supposed to be out of bed, and you're supposed to be sitting on me because I'm weak. So I'm gonna go lie back down before they catch me and Chrom puts me in the dungeons."

Nowi giggled a little bit, pushing herself off of the floor. She did a final check on her long hair, running her fingers through it to make sure that no leftover traces of bile hid in it. Satisfied, she went back over to the door and unlocked it again. After that she dealt with the soiled towel and poured herself a glass of water from the pitcher that Libra left.

She wanted to wash the bile taste away. A couple sips of water helped to get rid of the bulk of the bad flavor, but still a residual aftertaste stayed.

Mostly satisfied, she made to climb back onto the bed and sit at the edge, but Robin lifted the sheets up, and scooted over, inviting her under the thick layers of cloth. His invitation promised warmth. She gave in to her desire to be with him in that moment, and slid under the covers with him.

Suddenly she had a disparaging thought. Something that shied her away from the idea of being with Robin. It was a question that she suddenly dreaded to ask.

"Robin?" Nowi asked.

"What Nowi?" he replied back softly.

"Did you…. Like Jordane more than me? Do you like her more than me?"

She looked up and into his eyes, and saw all of the shame, guilt, and anger that he felt over the situation of the past months.

"I didn't know what there was between us, if anything at all. I liked the time we spent together, but… life is full of goodbyes, and for a while I thought you were just another goodbye. I wasn't shy to the idea of marriage Nowi, and I did like her, a lot. It just felt weird. Something felt off. I felt lonely.

"She became an… outlet, for my needs in a companion. It was something I hadn't known I had used to have," he wrapped his good arm around her, and leaned in closely, "but now, it's something I know that I have, even if this is all there ever is that happens." He gently planted his lips upon her forehead.


	13. Dragonstone Dust

Chatpoter 13

He kept waking up with people looking over him. He was an absolute magnet for that type of situation. This time he woke up spooning Nowi, with Lissa looking over him with a pout. His face reddened, and he already knew what she was getting ready to say.

"Lissa-"

"What are you doing Robin? Nowi. She- what? You should be resting! Not doing _that._ " Lissa said.

Now Robin was legitimately confused.

"What?" he questioned.

Lissa glanced at Nowi's clothing laying piecemeal on the floor.

"Oh…" Robin said, his face went a deeper shade, and for a completely different reason, "Nowi wake up. I need help," he whispered.

She snuggled up closer to him. For a moment he wondered if she was letting him suffer. He decided she was still asleep.

"Please, don't tell me, 'it's not what it looks like,' it doesn't matter. _But,_ you are a patient, and you are supposed to be recovering. _That,_ isn't recovering," she lectured.

"Ahhuugh, Lissa nothing like that happened. Why do I always end up in this situation, except this time I have you, Instead of Chrom or the silence of the room." Robin said.

It was true, their current physical closeness, and Nowi's apparent lack of clothing brought questions. Even then, as they were both mostly modest there was some level of skinship between them. He didn't have a shirt on, and she didn't have much of a shirt on.

"But, what else is there supposed to be? Even her undergarments are laying there," Lissa said, palm open and pointed at Nowi's clothing.

"You really haven't read a whole lot my manakete book did you? Manaketies can do a cool thing where they manifest a type of armor, which works as clothing. Nowi happened to decide that she was going to wear them, and…. Forgot to put her other clothes back on…." Robin sighed. He was too tired for this, he didn't even remember falling asleep.

Lissa eyes him suspiciously, "Then why haven't any of us seen her us it, except you. Hmm? I'm calling bull right now. If you need time to get decent go on ahead. I can leave the room."

Suddenly, Nowi stretched, much like a cat would on their side. She used her sleeping position like a spring to push herself up closer to his head, so that she could whisper into his ear. She gently pulled on his neck, to bring herself even closer.

"It's okay, she knows about it, she's the only one." Her words were subtle enough that Lissa wouldn't hear.

"So it's okay for me to show her you?" he asked.

He scooted away from her, so as to free his arms from his embrace with her, only for Nowi to slip back around his torso, and hug on to him. At least his arms were then free. Robin lifted the sheets up from their bodies, to show Lissa that Nowi was indeed clothed, if sparsely.

All Lissa could do was sigh.

"Hey Lissa, do you know what they say about assuming things?" Robin asked.

"Know I don't," she said, placing her hands on her hips.

Robin lowered the blankets back over them, it was far to chilly to be exposed to the air. Nowi popped up with her head about the blanket.

"Well too bad. Go ask Chrom. Tell him Robin sent for him," Robin said.

"Why?" she asked.

"Why else? The only way that I'm allowed to get out of this room is if I can get up and out of bed, with Nowi clinging to me. Chrom made a royal decree, with Libra as his witness." Robin shrugged.

"My dumb brother," she grumbled, "you were probably fit enough to get about doing things yesterday. He just wanted to handle it all for once. Now he's all stressed out trying to calm the rumors, and push papers," Lissa sighed, "I'll go get him, just be ready to get back up and help Chrom out."

"Ha, he needs this experience. Someday I'm going to be gone, whether I'm dead or catch some stupid horrible disease, I haven't decided which yet, Chrom is going to have to learn to fend for himself. Pushing papers and messing with nobles should be second nature to him someday," Robin said.

"Yeah whatever, just help him out for now," Lissa said.

"I can't Lissa. My hand. I've got some stuff on my to do list, such as improving my left-handed writing." He weakly wiggled the fingers in his right hand.

"Oh…." She trailed off, "I guess I'll go find Chrom then."

Lissa left the room. She did her best to keep the door from making too much noise as she closed it behind her, which led to the slight high-pitched squeal of the hinges.

Once the door was in place, Robin looked down at Nowi, snuggled up against him. He took his hand, and ran it through the hair at the top of her head, which caused her to shiver slightly, and lean in to his touch.

"We are going to need to get up soon," he said.

"I know. I just don't wanna do it. This is nice. I like this," she said as she practically melted into his hand.

"Tough I guess. I need to do stuff, and you can help me if you want. I'd need you to do some off it anyway," he said.

"Fiiiine. Just let me go so I can go put on my other clothes." She rolled out of bed, and away from him.

He would have questioned why she even bothered if she could just wear her own magical clothing, but he wasn't an idiot. Sometimes he was. But he knew that it had been challenging for her to show him so much of herself. He was grateful for her trust, and he was a whole lot of other things as well. Things much different from gratitude, which made him not want her to put her other clothing set back on.

He knew he was just being childish, or maybe selfish, but he wasn't sure if that was an entirely bad thing. It wasn't a good thing. It was already his fault that she had been through so much in recent times. He knew it, and pushing her any harder than what was necessary made his mind stutter away.

So, he let her change her clothing without so much as a fuss. Of course, he made sure to turn his head away in respect for her. To him, knowing that he had said his piece with her was enough for then and there. Anything more could be too much. He dreaded to know what happened if he moved too far forward without her consent, even in just attempting to get her to be more comfortable in her own skin.

Not having his coat on for even just a few days made him feel uncomfortable, and unsafe regardless to the fact that he was in one of the most stable locations he could possibly be in. It was just a natural manakete instinct, but he could only guess why. A fair reason was that manaketies were much weaker, physically, than a human.

That had some great semblance of truth in it, as he reviewed his own grasp of swordplay, and why he did so much better as a mage. Robin was not an unskilled man in terms of martial ability, but his physical prowess was lackluster, and his slim build much smaller than other soldiers he knew. He just couldn't keep up with them for long.

"You can open your eyes now Robin," Nowi called, from somewhere in the room.

Robin opened his eyes, and blinked around, quickly readjusting to the light in the room. He truly couldn't wait for Chrom to get there, so that he could show the man who was boss.

Nowi stepped over and sat on the edge of the bed, just as Lissa came back into the room with Chrom.

 _Finally,_ he thought.

"Alright Robin, let's see this," Chrom said, motioning for Nowi to hop on up.

"You know Chrom? It feels a lot more awkward with everyone in the room," Robin said.

The Exalt chuckled, "Yes well that's your fault for feeling awkward. Also, please don't call my sister an ass."

During their exchange, Nowi hopped all the way up on the bed, and slithered up to his chest, where she would be able to get a better grip around him. She rested her face in the crook between his neck and shoulder. He could feel the warmth of her breath, and the slight chill of her nose on his skin.

"Don't feel _too_ awkward Robin. This is fun," she whispered.

He couldn't help but to note that Nowi sounded slightly excited, perhaps about leaving the room. As far as he knew, she hadn't left the hospital room since he had been there. She had stayed in there with him the entire time. She was probably just ready to leave.

Robin sighed, _might as well get this over with. Please Chrom don't make too much fun of me._

Robin braced his arms against the bed and pushed up and forward. He caused him a slight strain, but not something he wasn't physically able to handle, even with Nowi weighing him down.

She was silently laughing, exhaling more of her hot breath on his neck, and he could feel her chest heave against his own with the effort.

Once he got to his full sitting height, Nowi didn't let go but rather clung to his torso, with her arms wrapped up under his shoulders, and her legs wrapped around her waist. This, he was grateful for, because she could have restricted his ability to move his arms.

Suddenly, Nowi lost her grip, and slipped backwards, landing on the bed facing the ceiling. She looked at him and gave him a thumbs up, just as out of breath as he was.

"Okay Chrom, I need some new clothing, and so does Nowi. Would you mind organizing that so I could leave the room in more than just a pair of cotton pants and some bandages?" he said.

Chrom nodded, and clapped his hands together. His eyes brightened up somewhat.

"Alright, we can get that done, and then, you can get yourself situated in that office of yours, and I'll have somebody deliver some papers to be looked over, written, and signed."

"Come on Chrom, you already know why that can't happen." Robin raised his right arm, and made a loose fist with his hand, he couldn't do much more than loose anything with that hand.

"Ah oops…. I… forgot. Hehe." Chrom rubbed the back of his neck.

And so it was. Robin did not need to wait very long for a new set of clothing, but while he waited, Lissa checked his bandages for him, and removed them. Everything had been healed long before but it was never a bad idea to leave on a new dressing of bandages for just in cases, like his skin spontaneously unhealing. He really wasn't entirely sure why they would insist on wrapping him up, even though he had nothing to wrap.

The only thing that remained unhealed, and which was already proving to make his life difficult, even as he had to lie in bed, was his right hand. He knew it would heal, he didn't know how, or how long it would take, but he knew that it would eventually return to its full strength. It had to.

As it was then, he would not be able to hold on to a pencil well enough to write much of anything legible, and the dexterity in his left hand would take some work. He found himself constantly flexing his fingers, knowing that there was next to no strength in them, and absently rubbing his wrist attempting to regain some feeling.

Soon Robin was out of the hospital room, with a new set of trousers, and a decent shirt to match. Nowi ran off with Lissa to procure herself some more clothes, for she had worn the same set for however many days she had been in the room with him. He didn't know why she hadn't left.

Either way, Robin headed back to his room, because his coat was there. He could figure things out later.

He did his best to ignore the curious stares from the other people in the hallway. The eyes came from not only the nobles, but also the various servants and guardsmen patrolling the halls. Nobody directly confronted him, and he sensed tension in many of them.

 _Is this what it's like to be a manakete? Does Nowi have to go through this?_

He could feel how his presence was bothering them all, but fought to ignore it. Their knowledge that he might turn into some kind of dragon and kill them all easily drove their fears, he knew. He didn't even know how to transform into his dragon form. They didn't know that though.

Nowi would need to help him in learning to transform. He didn't really want to, but it could be necessary. At the very least he wanted to learn to control himself. He could only hope that such a loss of control as what happened the first time would not happen again. Nowi had assured him, that such an event was not uncommon when a manakete first transformed, especially considering that he didn't have a Dragonstone.

He would need to make a Dragonstone as soon as possible. An expensive prospect, as it required a gemstone, especially to fit his power in. Nowi had assured him that his power was roughly equal to her own, meaning he would need something similar to her own stone, which was a green sapphire. Sapphires, of all colors, were particularly good at being a conduit for magical energy, and where often used to make healing staves.

As Robin was in his room, preparing to leave for a trip into town, Nowi showed back up, entering the room without so much as knocking on the door, or allowing the newly re-stationed guards to announce her presence. Passed Nowi, Robin looked to his guards and saw grimaces of apology as the door closed.

"Where are you going Robby?" she asked.

"Oh, I'm just getting stuff together to go out to the city. I need to procure something that I wouldn't want to trust the servants with purchasing," he answered.

Nowi sidled up close to him before continuing to speak, "What are you getting that's going to be so important."

Robin looked down at her, "Well, I figured I'd try to get myself a nice size gemstone to make into a Dragonstone."

Nowi looked up into his eyes, "Can I come along? I can give you some advice. It can be a bit of trial and error." She bumped his thigh with her hip.

"Of course you can come. I was hoping you would come along anyway, I never made good on that promise to take you out to the festival. It's over now, but hey, it'll still be fun. By the way, what do you mean by trial and error?"

"Oh, well, if you the gem isn't good enough, or isn't the right size it'll just turn to dust from the magic. I had the help of my parents when picking out my own, but I still ended up breaking two before getting the right one," Nowi said.

"Oh, well let's grab a couple then, I don't use my money for a whole lot. I've got plenty," Robin said.

It wasn't an understatement either. Chrom paid him incredibly well, and provided almost everything he needed, so he didn't spend much. If he was a normal human, he could have retired in another year or two, and lived the rest of his life in retirement, granted that he didn't live too extravagantly.

The thought of retirement brought to him a bitter feeling. He would never retire. He wouldn't grow old for thousands of years. He was going to outlive all of his comrades. It wasn't something he hadn't thought about yet, and it bothered him. He did his best to push the feeling down to some corner where he could think about it later.

"Robin? What's wrong?" Nowi asked, suddenly.

"I was just think about something…." He said.

"Ugh-huh. I know you were thinking about something," she stately dryly.

Robin sighed, "I was thinking about life. Just, that I'm a manakete and I'm going to outlive everyone I know." He chuckled at the absurdity of the thought.

Absurd though it might have been, it was a reality he faced, and it bothered him more than his useless hand.

Nowi wrapped her arms around his chest, and brought herself to him in a hug. It was an oddly comforting feeling, and it made him realize how alone he was except for her, a like person.

"You're going to be fine Robin, you aren't alone, and you'll never be, so don't think dumb thoughts. There's no sense in thinking about those things right now, you're young and so is everyone else," she said.

Robin returned the hug, and they stood there for a moment in a mutual embrace. That single moment made him not want to go anywhere else that day, but he knew he had to, so he broke the embrace.

"Let's get going, we don't have all day," he said, and took her hand in his own.

"I want to know that you're sure Robin," Nowi said.

"Of course I'm sure, there really isn't any other options is there. This is the safest way to ensure my sanity lasts, and my powers remain under tighter control," he replied.

"There's a lot more that goes into these Dragonstones than just the blessing of control and sanity you know. A Dragonstone is a literal extension of your being. It houses half of your soul. Breaking it would be a terribly traumatic event for your mental and emotional health. The stone will be the well of your magic. You won't be able to cast any spells unless you are incredibly close to your stone. The Dragonstone is truly the great physical and magical crutch of the manakete. Without one, we are sub-par to humans and could never compete. Are you sure you want to do it now?" Nowi asked.

Robin responded, "There isn't any other option, I don't need any more accidents to happen. I know that that kind of stuff is going to happen as a regular occurrence, but at least I can make an attempt to control when and where it does. Nobody else needs to die. Even if don't regret it," to an extent, I don't want to have to regret."

"Well alright then, this is going to be fun, and by fun, I mean painful," Nowi said.

They sat cross-legged and across from each other in the training yard; in a corner so as not to bother the trainees and soldiers going through their drills. Robin's presence unnerved them all anyway, and they needed to focus.

For safety's sake, Robin had gathered four raw and uncut gemstones from a local jeweler, who also happened to deal in staff making. He had plenty of properly sized stones for them to pick from. In the end, Robin had gone with the blue sapphires, as they seemed to be a good fit. They were going to start with a smaller one and move their way up until they found the one that worked.

Robin took a deep breathe, "Okay, I'm ready to go. Guide me through the process."

"Alright, well I don't have to teach you how to channel magic it just might feel a little weird because you usually use a spell tome, but the concept is pretty much the same," Nowi said.

"And you would know how to use a spell tome?" Robin asked.

Nowi waved her hand, "of course I do, I'm a manakete, and we are proficient in all magic that doesn't conflict with our tribe's nature."

Robin stared at her for a second, before silently reaching into his coat and pulled a thunder tome out from one of his pockets. He handed it to her.

"Let's see then, I wonder what it looks like when you do it," he said.

Nowi took the tome from him and smirked.

"Okay Robby, here it comes," she said.

He watched in silent amazement at the small ball of lightning that formed in her hand. He watched as it grew in intensity and size, until she was magically balancing a ball of electricity the size of her head. Suddenly she released her palm into the sky, and the charged light took off with a crash into the spring sky.

Every soldier in the training yard stopped silent and stared over at them.

"That was pretty intense. I've never seen the charge up look like that," Robin said.

Nowi laughed, "Channeling through a Dragonstone tends to make the properties of magic a little wonky. Once we get this done, you may want to start practicing with the new way stuff is going to work, before you try to implement it on anything. In fact channeling through a Dragonstone lets you do a lot more without a tome or staff, hence how I can make my armor appear and disappear at will, and also why yours doesn't, because you don't have a Dragonstone yet."

Robin nodded, "Makes sense, I guess. Magic theory is not my best suite, I just know it works."

"Fair enough," Nowi responded, "anyway, let's get to it. You are going to want to focus your magic into the stone like a constant stream of fire. It needs to be consistent. Be careful not to feed it too much at once, because it might just start sucking, and then it'll break before the process is finished properly."

Robin took the sapphire in his hand and focused on transferring magic to it like he would a thunder tome. The feeling was a much bigger one than the tome, which he accounted for the gem's large capacity to hold magic. Suddenly it exploded.

Robin and Nowi had to shield their eyes from the shards that went everywhere.

"You said they turned to dust," Robin said.

"They do if you try to fill it too full. You put too much in at once and it had a violent reaction to the magic. Try the next bigger one in size, really you need to be careful. Only a tiny trickle can get in at any one time without overloading it," Nowi explained.

Robin took a deep breathe, picking up the next gem in the process. This time he was much slower with the energy he let in, and he felt the magic leave him. He could genuinely feel it being lost to him, as it was stored in the stone. It didn't feel like casting a spell at all. He was already beginning to feel tired and he had more to go. He could usually cast more spells than a tome could handle in one sitting, before he grew tired.

His breathing hitched, as he felt a slight constriction around his throat. He began to feel lightheaded, and a tingling sensation was spreading down his limbs, particularly his fingertips, which were touching the crystal.

"Keep your focus Robin, it's not going to feel good," she said, a light quaver in her voice.

He gritted his teeth in an effort to push through it. It wasn't pain in a normal sense like a scrape or a cut, but a choking, halting pain, like being physically ill. He could feel his ears popping, and then he was suddenly deaf, like all of the sound that was coming to him was being sucked into the stone. His vision blurred and narrowed, until all he could see was the glowing stone that he was holding, glowing an eerie shade of purple.

Suddenly, everything stopped. Not because he stopped channeling his magic, but because he couldn't anymore. His vision went black for a second before clearing to normal. His hearing came back, and all the tingling in his limbs stopped. He could suddenly breathe properly again. Robin looked down into his hand and saw his Dragonstone, pulsating an odd color. Not the blue hue of the Sapphires he'd chosen but a deep purple color. It was beautiful all the same.

Robin had to lay down in the grass as a wave of exhaustion swept over him. He looked over at Nowi and smiled, she smiled back.

"It looks like you did it," she said, out of breathe, as if she was just as exhausted as him, "That's your Dragonstone. Keep it safe."

She settled down next to him in the grass.

"So what's next?" he asked.

"I'm going to help you get back to your rooms, and you are going to sit down and rest, even if you are resting at your desk, while you practice writing with your left hand.

"Wonderful. I need to do that anyway. By the way, why do you look so exhausted, I'm the one who had to do the thing," Robin said.

Nowi breathed in heavily, "Well… I guess you could say I was a physical sponsor or donor in helping you. A bit of a split pain kind of situation"

Robin looked at her tired face, "So you had to go through that too?"

She nodded.

Robin noticed she seemed anxious about it, but perhaps he was mistaken.

"Okay, let's get us up and out of the training yard. The guardsmen are getting a little distracted by us and our odd manakete magic."

 **A/N: Thank you all for your support readers. I appreciate that people are even reading this, let alone that I get any reviews or follows. I hope this chapter find you well.**

 **Signing out,**

 **Mr. Flusion**


	14. In The Mountains

Chatpoter 14

It was fairly early in the morning, early enough for Robin to need candlelight in order to do his work. He had procured some blank paper and was in the process or teaching his left hand to produce the proper script, and it was proving to be far more challenging than he had first thought that it might. Robin was not an ambidextrous man.

He had to keep quiet as well, because Nowi was still asleep in his bed, and likely would be until past noon, she rarely got up early if she didn't have to, and even then it was a maybe.

It was then, and there, as he quietly practiced his letters, that a soft rap brought itself to his attention. It guards rarely allowed anyone in at such an early time of day, regardless of whether he was awake or not, and he usually was.

It was to his surprise that they continued without his consent, and announced someone Robin had not been expecting. Through the doors, opened cleanly, and without noise, came Cordelia, already in full regalia for the day.

He could sense that she wanted to speak with him, so when she opened her mouth to give him words, he quietly shushed her, and pointed at his bed to the sleeping manakete. Then he got out of his chair and motioned for her to follow him out to his balcony, which had its own doors, with which he could separate them from the room.

Once they were out on the balcony, Robin leaned against the railing, and Cordelia settled beside him.

"What did you need to speak to me about Cordelia, and why so early?" Robin asked.

Cordelia let out a quite sigh, "Well Robin, I got back yesterday evening, and I learned of what had transpired while I was out hunting the assassin. They showed me the bodies," she shivered.

He could only sympathize with her there. And also feel guilty, because what she had had to see was his own doing.

"I'm sorry," he couldn't say much else.

"It's not just my sister Robin. The other man you killed was the assassin. He was also Lord Ferris," She shifted uncomfortably, "Robin my father tried to kill Chrom. You killed my father and my sister. Lissa told me about what happened, and why it happened. I know that you didn't mean to do it, and I know that if you had meant it, you didn't mean to do it in such a horrible way." Cordelia said.

Truthfully, nobody had told him the details of the autopsy on the two, and he hadn't figured to ask.

"Cordelia I-" Cordelia cut him off.

"Please just let me finish speaking. I came here to do more than just blather my self-pity, and hatred. Chrom told me that none of the information from the autopsy had gotten to your ears. This is the only time of the day that I have free, and I would speak it now," Cordelia sighed, "There's a lot of strong evidence to support that my family were members of the Grimleal. It was another plot to kill the power of Ylisse, like just before the war with Exalt Emmeryn."

"What about your father? The man I knew was a much larger one than the assassin." Robin stated.

"I was getting to that," Cordelia said, "when I looking for the assassin I ended up making my way to Ferris, and took it upon myself to ask my father for assistance. What I found in the estate was not my father, but a body double, a man who looked very similar to Lord Ferris, but was not him. He had hung himself just recently. My real father has been in hiding for some time, if the change in his body type is any indication," she stopped for a moment, "Robin?"

"Yes Cordelia," he said.

"May I ask one personal thing about the situation?" She asked.

"Of course, Cordelia, my ears are open, and I will answer to the best of my ability," he stated.

Her fists clenched against the stone railing, "I wanted to know…. What do you remember of it? How much, and could you tell me?"

Robin sighed, "I don't remember more than that I did it. I know the grim facts from the own memory, but I don't know what was said, or what I felt. I get flashes of it if I sit and think about it, and what I see is not fit for the eyes of even the most hardened soldier."

His comment, he sensed, brought their conversation to a close.

"Well, Robin. I think that I'm to be going now. Fair you well," she said.

Robin stopped her, "Hold on Cordelia," she turned around to look at him, "You should take the week off, return to your posting this time next week."

"Robin I can't do that," she sighed, "I need to get things done. There is a lot that I have to get done now that I'm back at the castle."

"Nonesense. If I have to write an official letter of temporary release for you in my crappy handwriting I'll do it, but I don't envy Frederick for having to read an official document by my hand, rather than you just taking my word as a suggestion and resting," Robin said.

"Very well," she sighed.

Cordelia walked off and out of the room, making sure to close and open both the balcony doors, and the room doors quietly. He could barely hear the doors open and close.

Once she was completely out of the room, Robin made his way back through the balcony doors, and sat at his desk. He stared at the papers on his desk, half-finished lines of practice letters.

 _I killed her sister, and I killed her father. I've killed her entire family._

Nowi woke up to the sun inconveniently in her eyes. It was far too early. The sun had managed to find a space in the nearby window, where it could shine through directly on to her face.

She tried to roll away from the beam of light, but couldn't seem to find a way to escape it, aside from putting her face against the pillow. It was the mirror on the other side of the bed, she knew it had to be.

She was awake, but stubbornly refusing to open her eyes. In fact, she lay there, listening the silent scratching of the quill, and sensed something suddenly. It was the sense of guilt and anxiety she could smell that brought her to look about, and realize that she could hear a quill scratching because Robin was not in the bed.

He was sitting hunched over his desk, and sloppily scrawling words onto paper. She could feel his emotions even in the sound of the quill against the paper, and she knew he was unhappy about something, but she didn't know what.

Blinking the sleep from her eyes as fast as she could, Nowi quietly slipped out from under the covers and into the chill of the morning. The bed called to her, and she longed to go back to it, but she resisted the temptation.

She quietly crept towards him, until she was right behind the man. Then she fluidly wrapped her arms about his shoulder and pressed herself against his back. She could feel him tense up through her blouse.

"What's wrong Robin? Are you feeling okay?" Nowi asked.

Robin sighed, "Nowi. I'm just thinking about the people I've killed recently. Because it affected someone fairly close to me." He shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

Nowi showed her affirmation by squeezing herself around him ever so slightly harder, "I understand. Do you want to talk more about it?" she asked.

She could feel his emotions spike there, and knew that he really didn't want to.

"It's just. The assassin that I killed that night… was Lord Ferris. That means that I killed a rather popular lord, but that's beside the point. I killed Cordelia's father _and_ sister. The last of her close family is gone," Robin said.

"Oh," Nowi thought fast, "Well Robin. Can I ask you this? What does Cordelia feel about this? She is sad right? But what else? She doesn't hate you, I don't think that Cordelia would divvy out her mortal hatred to that many people. More than likely she is just sitting there and thinking Robin. She's going to be thinking similar thoughts as you are," Nowi fully embraced him, and rested her face against his own, "Cordelia is probably beating her own self up right now, for not seeing what was happening, or not being here to stop it. It doesn't mean that what happened was good, but it means that there can be mending between you two, because there is no hatred."

This close to Robin she could feel his chest thrum and rumble slightly as he took in a deep breath.

"Yeah Nowi I know what you're saying is right. But that doesn't stop me from thinking about it. Regrets don't just get up and walk away, and nightmares are not so easily tamed. I gave Cordelia a week off from her work so she could have some time to think, and perhaps we could talk it over, or perhaps what we've already said to each other was enough."

Nowi had a thought, "He you know what. We'll just have to give it a bit of time and see, but you know what else?" She let as much of her weight as she could fall on Robin and draped herself on him, "Right now I'm hungry, and it's early. So we are gonna go and get some breakfast. Breakfast is always the best meal, and I always miss it."

Then Nowi let go of Robin and hurried about the room, do her best to give him as little time to think as possible as she quickly opened a wardrobe, placed in the room specifically for her, and began to prepare some simple clothing to wear.

She looked over at Robin, and to his credit, he had averted his gaze from her when he realized what she was doing.

 _Honestly he is such a gentleman about it, when he doesn't have to be. He knows at least somewhat what I feel for him. He can't be_ _ **that**_ _dumb can he? Maybe I should find a good time to just outright say it._

That would come for another time. Right now he didn't need any confessions. He needed some careful attention. His life had just gotten turned upside down, more so than it already was due to his amnesia. She would take it upon herself to try and help out. She had patience, she could wait, and she wasn't getting any older anyway. Neither was he for a matter of fact.

Once Nowi had dressed herself more modestly, she turned and walked over to Robin, before she grabbed onto his arm and started dragging him away from his desk and quill. He needed to be doing something that didn't give him lots of free time to think.

Regrets could not be forgotten, but they could be pushed back and lessened by joys. She _knew_ that. She had learned that some time ago, and had been re-taught it very recently, relatively speaking.

There was nothing else she could do, but keep him focused on things, so that his mind didn't wander. Time would allow him to heal to a degree, but letting him stagnate would not be too good either.

The best thing she could think to do, was to take him out, and work on transforming into a dragon from his human form, and beyond that, returning back to normal again. It wasn't challenging, but the physical application of doing it could be a little weird and confusing.

"You know what you could use Robin? Some flying lessons. Or just- you know- dragon lessons. Maybe practice the finer aspects of dragoning a little later. Your instincts would keep you from dying, but beyond that, you wouldn't get too far," Nowi said.

Robin sighed, and she could feel the great intake of breath against her as he did.

"I guess Nowi. There isn't a whole lot of use coming out of me right now. I don't know if it is even entirely possible for me to retain a complete semblance of my original articulate skill at writing. Where are we going to go?" he asked.

"Good question," Nowi answered, "Somewhere that we can't burn down. Perhaps the mountains to the northeast. There's a reason that manaketies and other dragons are famous for making mountainous lairs you know. We don't want to watch the world burn. Well most of us don't."

"That sounds about good I suppose. The mountains would be a good place. Find a nice rocky area with sparse plant growth, and then do some practice. That's pretty good. Not much better in the way of places that we could go," Robin said.

Robin started to stand up, and seemed to not remember that she was hanging on to him, then as he lurched out of his chair, both he, and Nowi started to fall. It was the man's quick reaction that saved her from being squished under his weight.

Instead of falling directly on her, Robin managed to twist in a way that had them both landing side by side. Robin rolled over and looked at her. She could feel him staring into her soul.

She couldn't help but giggle, and as she did, Robin snorted hard enough that it probably hurt his throat. Soon they were sitting there laughing hard, while lying on the floor.

Robin rode on Nowi's back all the way to the mountains, which was frightfully quick compared to walking, which would have likely at least a week. On horseback, maybe a few days. He had a Manakete to travel with though, and they were there by noon. Upon touching down, Robin pulled out a package, which he had packed for their mid-day meal.

It included healthy strips of beef, a loaf of bread for each of them, and a third to split. Along with all of that, he had procured some peaches preserved in a jar of honey. Really it was a meal fit for a noble, and he certainly did make use of his status and wealth when he needed.

Once their meal was underway, Nowi exhibited a heavy appetite, so Robin relinquished his extra half loaf for her, which she quickly demolished. He couldn't blame her after flying for a few hours. It was bound to require incredible amounts of energy to keep herself in the air for great lengths of time.

Besides the fact that she was most likely tired, Robin could tell she was excited to be out, and doing stuff. He literally couldn't ignore it, it was coming off of her in waves, and she was not afraid to show it. Once they had landed, she semi-cautiously changed into her manakete clothing, but quickly relaxed into her environment, at which point she was quite obnoxious. This time around, her clothing included a cape, and thigh high boots, which had not been there before.

He was beginning to feel that she might have needed a day out just as much as he did. It made him think that they weren't likely to accomplish too much, but just being out in the fresh air was something else. Being out there with her was something else.

Contrary to his expectations, once they had finished eating, they did manage to get down to business.

"Okay, so I'm using my Dragonstone like a magical conduit. As if I were casting a spell," he stated.

Nowi nodded, "Exactly right. You need to think of some nice things, stuff you like, but you also need to think about some unpleasant things. Imagine the feeling of growing into the size and shape of a dragon. It feels weird for a while, but you get used to it. Think about what it feels like to cast magic at things, it will help to form your breathe. You might not be able to fully transform for a while yet. You might be able to just manifest parts of yourself though. Claws, or fangs, even wings. In fact, wings are probably the most common aspect of a dragon that a manakete might summon without their full form."

Robin nodded, and began focusing as she told him to. It was an odd feeling, because the only time that he felt his magic was when he was very near his Dragonstone. He held the stone between his hands, and had it close to his chest. What felt odd about it was the circular flow of magic. He could feel as he drew the magic from the stone, only to pump it back in in a more focused way.

Nowi put a reassuring hand in his forearm promising to help and stop him, should anything go wrong. He was simultaneously incredibly nervous, yet also confident that he would get some kind of positive result.

He closed his eyes in focus, and felt a sudden rush of, and then sudden loss of energy. He opened his eyes, and looked at Nowi. She looked somewhat different, slightly. Everything did. The colors were sharper, and it drew his eyes to her body in a way he hadn't looked at her before. It drew his eyes to a lot of things. He underwent slight and naturally instinctive reaction without thinking. He blinked his eyes, and suddenly his vision changed into odd colors ranging from dark reds, when he looked at Nowi, to softer hues when he looked at the cool stone.

The colors he saw when looking at her gave him a welcoming feeling.

Nowi suddenly snorted out laughing. Robin blinked, and his vision returned to the slightly sharper sight from just after he opened his eyes.

Nowi spoke through her laughter, "You just- of all the things to get… you transformed your vision into that of a natural manakete. Well," she giggled, "I guess that's something that you didn't have before. You don't really have any natural features of a manakete, let alone any more obvious manifestations like wings or huge claws. I just, you could have done anything else. You just changed your eye color and pupil shape. I bet Chrom won't even notice, but then again, he doesn't seem to take a lot of hints…"

"Wait wait, okay, so I have manakete eyes now? Is that what I just saw?" Robin asked.

Nowi calmed down a bit to answer, "Yeah manakete have slightly different vision in terms of color contrast, and depth perception. I'm not sure which of our eyes are better at it, but well, you can be the judge of that I guess. Along with that we can see heat, almost like its light. That sense is a bit more akin to magic than biology though. It is a genetic trait of manakete though."

"Huh, weird. I'm not sure if I'll keep it once I can change between it and my regular vision," Robin said, "But I guess that I'm stuck with it for now."

"I don't know what's not to like. I mean, they look a little different, but I think manakete eyesight is pretty good," Nowi said.

"Well it doesn't matter. I have these eyes for now, and it's plenty of time to grow used to them. Perhaps I'll become far too accustomed to seeing things differently that human vision will seem strange," Robin said.

"Perhaps…"

Robin noticed that she seemed a little bit disconcerted. It was in the way she held her lips together, now more vibrant looking than they had before. She shifted her wait slightly between her feet.

"What's wrong Nowi?" Robin asked.

"It's nothing too important Robin," she said, but he gave no response, and instead let her work through it. She looked at him, and then looked away, "Well, I guess, it just that I don't know other people are going to see you now. You know? You're supposed to be this great and just hero tactician, but now things have happened. Word is going to be out and around about what you've done. You're a manakete, and you've… killed people," she shivered.

Robin understood, "It's going to be fine. What the people feel for me matters, but what else can they feel for me other than some form of awe. I _am_ a manakete. Beyond that, I am the respected royal tactician, I don't mean to brag, but I can't say it any other way, without sounding even more foolish. They love me, and, more or less, the people trust me, or at least respect me."

"See that's the thing Robin. You aren't invincible, or out of the radar of the nobles and their under-the-table games. For now you are safe. They wouldn't dare harm a divine manakete. We don't know what tribe you are from. They don't know anything about that though, and it's the only thing that keeps you safe," Nowi meandered.

"Exactly. We don't know, and they definitely don't know. It doesn't matter anyway. You think that I don't have plans in place. What kind of tactician would I be? A poor one at best. Plans and counter plans, and plans to counter the counter plans. Secret passages, and a network of eyes," he said, somewhat sarcastically.

It wasn't a lie. He did have plans. It wasn't the truth either. Chrom wouldn't let him have spies.

He could tell that Nowi had spotted his false words. She started to giggle.

"I don't think Chrom is the kind of person to allow direct spying on his own kingdom Robin," she said.

Robin waved her off, "Shhh, they don't know that."

They both started laughing. For some time, they just sat there on the ground, next to each other and laughed. He could feel his worry melt off of him in that moment, and he could feel Nowi relax next to him as well. He could feel her, both physically and emotionally, begin to uncoil, like a wound up rope. She was tied far too tight for her own size, and when let out, she seemed to spring open like a flower in bloom.

It was something he had noticed about her. And they way to was when she felt she could relax brought something up within him.

A sudden though came to his mind. Something that excited him, and made him nervous. An affirmation.

"Hey Nowi," he said, getting her attention.

"What is it Robin?" she asked.

"I have a question for you," he said, hoping he could catch her attention, and have her understand something of his meaning.

She seemed to be somewhat suspicious of what he was about to ask her, "Of course Robin. Anything. Ask away."

The words came out in what he felt was a bit of a rushed phrasing, "May I give you a kiss?" he asked.

It was something he didn't feel at all uncomfortable or embarrassed to say.

She was somewhat taken aback, though not wholly unprepared for his question.

"What brought this up Robin?" she asked.

That was a question he wasn't too ready to answer in some roundabout fashion.

"Well. Damn. I can't say it any other way. Nowi, I don't know how clear I was to you before on how I felt for you. I may have not been completely direct enough. I don't want any more of this weird back and forth that I feel like we've had. I would rather just get this out here and seal it with you," He said.

"Robin…"Nowi sighed.

"Nowi?" He asked.

"I can't. Not right now. Especially not right now. I know you can feel it," she looked down- at him, "If we start something right now, I'm not so sure that we are going to stop," she stated.

"Oh," was all he could get out, but he knew it was true. He could sense it in his own emotions, and her own. It was, now that he looked at it harder, his own physical desire that had brought about the question.

"I think that you might need to look in on manakete courting customs. If I didn't know what would happen if we kissed, what mistakes we would make, I would not wait for even a moment to accept it all, but I will follow my culture, and you would do well you at least learn of it, if you are to embrace the second half of your blood," she wrapped her arms around him in a warm hug.

He returned her embrace. It was a signal from her that he was not rejected. In fact, one of acceptance, and it only tightened his resolve to make a serious effort. Though the effort was a chaste one, he could feel that she felt something similar to what he had in that moment, and knew that her words where true.

Had they continued; things would have moved out of hand at a pace neither one of them was likely comfortable with, at least on a truly thoughtful level. Still the temptation was there.

"You know," he said, "We should probably head back. It will be dark soon, and I would much rather travel in the light and sleep in the dark. Its… still okay if I ride on your back right?" he asked.

It was a serious question. Not words he spoke lightly, and he was glad that she took him seriously in that moment.

"Of course Robin," she said.

 **A/N: Alright. Here it is, though it has been awhile hasn't it? A couple of weeks? Motivating myself to do much of anything has a bit of a challenge lately, and I got slammed by some unforgiving writer's block. I had to sit on some of these scenes for quite a while before I could figure out how to do them properly. Either way, this little nest egg of a chapter had finally gotten wings and flown off. I present to you** ** _Chapter fourteen: In the Mountains_** **.**

 **Thanks be to all my readers,**

 **Mr. Flusion**


	15. Lies Resolved

Nowi felt kind of bad for leaving Robin alone with his emotions. She had told him "we," but what she meant was "him." A manakete began their adolescence with their first transformation. He was almost obviously a half manakete. He was a full adult in terms of physical maturity. But his draconic side was just beginning to show itself, and that included all of the raging loss of physical and emotional control.

His sudden desire to be intimate with her was a product of his awakening, she told herself. And it likely was. Her infatuation for him was growing, but she didn't feel the need or want to be with him physically. She hadn't lied to him about the courtship. It was simply too early for her to be thinking about such things. Manaketies were awkward beings.

There was a saying that humans were ruled by their emotions, but the hasty birth of the manakete race had left them, for lack of a better word, incomplete. An attempt to copy the existence of humans. It worked just fine, but it did not come without its drawbacks. Her race would have gone extinct long ago if they hadn't retained their magical ability to temporarily turn into dragons.

She sighed. It felt unfair for her to have left him like that. She shut him down so quickly it could be interpreted as being harsh. Especially in his experience, after she had spent nearly every night sharing his bed, for her to suddenly not do so. She was unable to imagine his feelings, whether he felt confusion or betrayal she did not know.

"Is something wrong Nowi?" A voice said.

This brought her back to reality. She was in Lissa's room. It was early morning, and she sat on the princess' bed, while Lissa was being prepared for the day. Several maids rushed around her, fixing her hair, applying cosmetics, and dressing her for the day. Nowi got to observe her daily preparations first hand, and found that there was a lot more lace and strings to tighten her clothing together than she had originally assumed.

Nowi didn't know what kind of physical tell she exhibited. She was certain she had some involuntary habit, which unveiled her thoughts to those around her. She wasn't sure what it was though. She knew she couldn't run from Lissa though, who was privy to so much of her secrets anyway.

She chewed on her lip, "Well I just, uh, Robin…" she stammered.

"Robin what?" Lissa asked.

"Well," she collected herself, "you know about Robin's situation right now right? Of course you do. I took him out to the mountains yesterday to try our hand at getting him to transform properly. Well some -ergh- stuff happened. Things almost got a little bit out of control. Emotionally."

Lissa was listening, and asked a question, "What do you mean 'out of control?' "

Nowi shifted around at her seat on the bed, and settled again with her hands under her thighs.

"Well. You know the precarities of our relationship right now. His current position. Most people around the castle have heard rumors about him, and what he is. We both know what race I am," She looked around at the maids, and decided to stand and approach the princess. She whispered directly into Lissa's ear, "he may have, uh, tried to get a _little_ bit physical with me just before we left back to Ylisstol."

"Okay," Lissa continued, "And what did you do?"

"I did the natural thing and turned him down," Nowi said.

"And there lies the problem. Am I wrong?" Lissa said.

"I just. Well. I think he may be taking it kinda wrong. Especially because I didn't go back to his room last night. I left him as soon as I got back to the castle," Nowi finished.

Lissa looked at her maids, who for all the world did their best to not look interested in the conversation.

"Leave us. I shall call for you when I am ready to continue," Lissa said.

Her servants quickly cleared out of the room. They each bowed to her as they left the room and went off to do whatever it was maids did when they weren't preparing the princess for her day.

"Do you not having some urgent occasion this morning?" Nowi asked.

"Nah," she said, "This is my every morning. Gotta look pretty for the people ya know. I don't have anything until about mid-day. I'm going to tour the city and greet the citizenry."

 _Of course,_ Nowi thought, _she does this in place of Emmeryn once a week._

"Oh," Nowi said.

"Yes well. Now we're alone," Lissa turned around and leaned into Nowi, "Now give me the dirty details."

Nowi sighed, "We were gearing up to leave and were sitting with each other, when he suddenly turned and asked me if I would kiss him," she felt her cheeks heat up slightly at the thought, "Robin's a new manakete, and adolescent. His body is physically mature, but as a dragon, he's only a number of days old. He's finding it challenging to control his emotions and emotion related actions. If he wasn't a manakete, I would have conceded to his request, but it couldn't work that way. I'm afraid that if I let him take that inch, he may lose himself and take the whole mile," she stopped to breathe, "I'm a full blooded manakete. In my human form, even teens coming into their first growth spurts might even be able to physically overpower me. Robin is an adult, and probably half-human. He's much stronger than I am, and I wouldn't be able to stop him should he have lost himself."

Lissa interjected with a question, "but couldn't you just transform? Surely, considering your level of experience, you could overpower him like that," she seemed to be balancing some question or statement at the tip of her tongue.

Nowi shivered at the thought, "I fear you wrong there. You did see him that night right? He was out of control. He had only half transformed, yet he was a match for my own full strength, I think. His single dragon parent was likely very powerful. It would be all the more horrible should I prompt him to transform against me."

Lissa reached up with a single hand, and flicked her painfully in the nose. She gave Nowi a very hard look.

"Don't be dumb Nowi. What are you worrying about? I know you haven't known Robin for as long as I have, but you've definitely spent more time around him than I. Many more times the number of hours I've spent around him in fact. Even I know that he has enough self-control to stop if you just told him to. He might even be the most gentlemanly person I've met yet. If you're uncomfortable I'm sure he would be happy to oblige, raging emotions or not."

"Lissa… I don't think you understand-"

"Nowi," she interrupted, "I fully understand. I know about the early development of manaketies, at least a little. I took Robin's book."

"B-but," she stuttered, "I. Well. You know. What the hell."

Her every attempt to start a phrase was cut off by a sharp look from Lissa.

"Nowi," she sighed, "you should go talk to him. Tell him your worries," Lissa finished.

Nowi chewed at her lip a little bit more before continuing, "I can't I've already lied to him about it. I'm sure he thinks that that kind of physical affection is already a taboo until later in a courtship. I told him that we both wouldn't be able to control ourselves."

She was growing slightly frustrated.

"Well is what you told him even close to the truth," Lissa said.

"Of course not. The only thing I told him truthfully was about his lack of self-control. I'm currently perfectly in control of my emotions," she growled, "Physical intimacy between manaketies is important in early courtship, not usually to the extent of sleeping with each other-if you know what I mean but- certainly much, much more than what we are currently doing. Our relationship could hardly be called a courtship. An observing manakete might mistake us as siblings if they were to watch us now," Nowi said.

"Nowi I think you should take a moment to cool off and calm down," Lissa was starting to get concerned for her now.

"Calm dow-? Bullshit. I'm completely calm," she sputtered.

Literally. A mixture of spit and blood came flying from her lips. It landed as drops on Lissa's face.

"Nowi!" she was definitely concerned, "Your lip."

"What?" she reached up at touched her lips, "Damn."

Her fingers came back painted red. She had fangs, and she had bit right through the soft flesh of her lips. The blood was dripping surprisingly fast from the tear, fell down her chin, and flooded over onto her sleeping robes, which she was still wearing.

"Dang. I don't have my healing staff with me right now…" Lissa rushed towards her bathroom, were a bucket of warm water and a rag still held place. She would have to clean Nowi first, and apologize to her servants, as she would need to change clothes and fix the make-up from her face."

As Lissa rushed around, Nowi sat there and stared at the blood on her small fingertips. _What am I doing?_

She sat helplessly as Lissa returned with a warm and wet rag, which she quickly applied to Nowi's face. She gently dabbed at her lip and cleaned up the blood from her chin.

"Maid," immediately, a servant stepped into the room, and observed the situation, "Go retrieve my healing staff, I have need of it."

She didn't even speak, but simply bowed to the princess, and rushed off to complete her given task.

"Geeze, Nowi. You're kinda dumb. You're over 1000 years old. I shouldn't need to lecture you. I'm gonna clean you up seal your cut so It doesn't scar, and then we're going to dress you up, and make you go talk to Robin," Lissa said.

"But-"

"No buts. I'm gonna march you over to his office, and if I have to, walk you in and stand outside the door until to bare yourself to him."

"What? That's-"

"No," Lissa continued, "At the very least, you are going to go in there and tell him you lied to him. You can do that, and then I'll let you leave. You won't even have to explain yourself."

"What's that gonna accomplish?" Nowi protested.

"Stop talking," Lissa said, "I'm trying to clean up your lip.

Nowi complied. Lissa was going to get her way, and there wasn't much she could do about it. Lissa was the princess. She may have been a divine dragon, but she wasn't Naga or anything. She could very well be forced to do anything and her own status wouldn't protect her- to a certain extent.

She sighed, and let Lissa finish her work. It was a lot of blood considering the size of the wound. She didn't want it to become infected.

Very soon, Lissa's maid returned with a staff. A thin rod of metal, which held an absurdly oversized focusing orb. It was hardly the tool necessary for such a minor injury, but Lissa wouldn't be angry at her servants. The staff would do the job just fine, if a little overboard.

Lissa took the staff in hand, and Nowi waited patiently for the healing magic to do its work. Considering the size of the focusing crystal, it happened fast, and a lot of excess magic poured into her body. She felt a searing light overcome her eyes as the magic found places to escape her body and dissipate. She could hardly hold much energy as it was.

Lissa quickly stopped what she was doing, as the healing was done too fast. She reached up and touched her lip, not surprised to find nary scab or scar.

Lissa looked right into her eyes, "Well now that that's done, we can get you dressed up. I'm sure I have something nice to fit your size…

Robin woke up alone. It instantly reminded him of occurrences from the day before. With his memories came an embarrassment. Not some childish blush-at-the-girl-you-like embarrassment, but a shameful guilt ridden feeling. Embarrassment at being caught doing something bad, or _going too far in his affections toward his infatuation._

He groaned and massaged his temples. He would need to figure out how to make amends to the situation. She hadn't spoken to him since they got back to the castle. She hadn't looked at him. He could feel that she felt off. But he couldn't say anything about it, because he was the very cause of whatever emotion he was causing to run through her heart.

It had only been a few hours, enough time to sleep, but he already felt like he was as far away from her. A mountain's worth of distance had sprung up between them in a short time, do to his ill-chosen words and actions.

 _Gods… I really am I dense idiot. I can't read the mood._ He sighed to himself. There wasn't anyone else to listen to him. _I can't sit and wallow the morning away._

Robin scooted to the side of his bed, and swung his naked legs off over his bed. A change of clothes was sitting neatly folded on top of his storage chest, courtesy of one Chrom's servants. They were legendarily skilled at not waking him up at night as they placed his clothing for the day.

There was also a bucket of fresh warm water beside his bed, magically kept hot until disturbed. He took the water into his cupped palms and washed his face. Then he took the wet cloth and scrubbed his underarms and other smelly places. Satisfied with himself in that amount of self-care, Robin quickly dried himself and donned his clothing. Over that he wore his coat. As always.

He filled his many pockets and slots with the day's necessities, slipped on a pair of boots, and left his room. The massive doors to his quarters swung open at his behest, and the two guards stationed at his doors saluted.

"I'm heading to my office," Robin said.

"Sir," the eldest of the both said.

Robin ignored them as they followed him to his office. They would set of position outside of his office door. They kept a respectable distance from him, and as their station mandated, they spoke not a word unless spoken to or at necessity.

His office was not far. It was a route he had memorized. Right turn. Right turn. Left turn. Third door on the right. His presence cut a swathe in front of him as servants and dignitaries alike moved out of his way. They all feared him. Not a soul that entered Ylisstol's castle hadn't heard about his… accident.

His manner on that morning surely pushed away any in the halls who would sympathize with him, including Stahl, a fellow shepherd on his way to breakfast. The knight had taken a single look at Robin and had known the kind of mood the tactician was in.

Of course it was not ordinary for soldiers, knights, and guardsmen to be eating at the main dining hall, but shepherds were privileged. There was a separate mess hall located near the guard house for those who martially served Ylisse. I should go eat too, but he felt that he wouldn't be able to stomach a heavy and filling meal. He likewise didn't have the energy to simply go and pick up a fruit. No it would be better to just get the work day going.

Even at this early time in the morning Chrom was already up and going about his duties, and it showed to Robin. Standing outside of his office door, milling about, was Chrom's personal courier. A message boy, in his teen years. His father was a higher ranked knight and his son was given the privilege at such a young age. He had been Emmeryn's messenger before Chrom's…

Robin shook himself from that sentiment, lest he wallow in despair of his one great failure. The young man bowed immediately upon Robin's arrival and handed him a letter.

"Lord Robin a message and request from the Exalt," he stated simply.

"Thank you boy," Robin gave the young man's shoulder a pat as he opened his doors and entered his office. He saw the messenger go off to his next assignment, or perhaps to find breakfast. Then the doors were closed, and the subtle click of the lock rung lightly in his ears.

They, at his request, locked the doors at all times. Occupied or not. There was very potentially sensitive information kept in his office. Nobody would be able to simply barge in through the hallway doors if they wanted to enter.

Now alone and with a task at hand, Robin took a small knife and opened the sealed letter from Chrom. A glance at the content of the letter made him realize that Chrom must be fond of using wax and the royal seal. It was hardly confidential information or a royal decree.

 _Good morning Robin,_

 _This is hardly a formal request, but well, you know how it is. Anyway, the anniversary of the war is coming up and we need to get the shepherds together. I intend for the parade to be on time this year. Start writing invitations to all of us scattered through the continent. We'll have flyers deliver the letters, and at the consent of our long held compatriots, we'll ferry them to Ylisstol. This will be good practice for that handwriting of yours._

 _Good luck,_

 _Chrom._

Hardly an official letter indeed. It was short, informal and to the point. He chuckled to himself. It was actually Sumia's handwriting. Chrom really did just like to add his royal seal to everything. It of course also expedited the process at which all of the letter got delivered, Robin could appreciate that.

Robin took his pen, uncorked an inkwell, and grabbed from his stack of paper. His handwriting was still terrible, though it couldn't be call illegible. He wrote the letters in alphabetical order by name, not that it mattered. He just had a list of the shepherds' names written down as a way to keep track of them all. The first letter complete, he took his own stamp, and chuckled at himself.

Chrom wasn't the only one fond of his signature seal. Robin had designed and commission for an artisan to construct his seal. Now everyone of importance knew when it was him who sent them an important letter. Couldn't have them mistake him for the Exalt after all. It was a good way for others to not mistake orders he may issue as a royal decree.

He was glad for such simple and time consuming work. It served well as a distraction from his less savory thoughts, which he would confront later. Or so he thought.

A knock at his door signified her arrival. It was followed by the kerchunk of a key, and his door cracking open.

"Milord Robin. Lady Nowi seeks to speak privately with you."

His announcement was followed by another hot flash of shame, and dare he say- confusion? What was Nowi doing coming to his study. If she wanted to speak to him she usually, not always, but usually waited for evening and spoke to him before they went to bed.

This thought alone solved his problem. She wasn't spending time in his room, she had made that clear with her silence and disappearance the night before.

Robin stood from his work and walked over to the door.

"Open the door," he commanded.

His door swung wide, and he immediately caught the eye of the beautiful manakete. Her hair and been tamed into fashion, and she wore a dress of high quality. Her eyes went wide as she locked onto his face.

She meekly stepped into his office. He remained silent, and waited for her to speak.

As soon as the door clicked shut behind her she opened her mouth.

"Robin I-," she gulped, "I need to tell you something. I… spoke falsely to you yesterday evening."

"Lady Nowi seeks to speak privately with you," the guard had said.

She waited a short time, before- "Open the door."

He wasn't in a good mood. The guard swing the door inward, and she got a good look at him. He wasn't looking to good. Not on the outside of course. He was nearly immaculate in appearance, besides the look he was giving her. But she could feel the emotion radiating off of him in thick waves. It was so many at once she had a hard time discerning what he might be feeling.

 _How did he get like this in just a few short hours? Not even a day. Is what I said that effective against him, or is it something else that is bothering him so much?_

She stepped into his office. The look he was giving her made her feel incredibly small. Even more so than she knew she already was when compared to him. She felt self-conscious with the guards looking at her, so she waited for the telltale click of the door, then a locking mechanism. The sound of a bolt sliding into place nearly sent her panicking.

She quickly spoke, lest she loose her nerve which she had worked up for this moment.

"Robin I-"Nowi took in air and tried to calm herself, "I… spoke falsely to you yesterday evening."

She mentally reached out to him as she said that, and felt the immediate effect of her words on him. _Confusion._

He seemed to be waiting for her to continue.

"What we talked about ye-yesterday. Um. You know, you asked to kiss me?"

Gosh she must sound like a stuttering idiot.

"Yes? We talked about it already. I'm afraid I haven't had time to figure out how I'm supposed to go about a courtship. Nowi I hardly know anything about human courtship, never mind how complicated the process must be for a race as old as the dragons."

She steeled herself one final time, "Robin that's what I was lying to you about… I was nervous, and-and I was scared. Robin do you even comprehend how strong you are compared to me. If you wished to have me right now, there would be little I could do but raise my voice."

"Nowi that's not-"Robin started.

She interrupted him. She had started, and she didn't know now if she could stop now until she had said her peace.

"No. Robin it is. You've awakened as manakete now. And you are subject to a manakete's desires. Whether you _want_ to or not, your own instinct could simply take over. We aren't perfect beings Robin. Quite the opposite, the ancient dragons' haste meant that we are largely incomplete as a species. We were supposed to be identical to humans in every way, but well, you have but to look at a manakete to recognize them as a separate species," she breathed in. _That was an unintended tangent, "_ I was just so weak in my own insecurities, and I didn't want to offend you. Robin, I didn't mean _WE_ wouldn't be able to remain in control. I was scared for myself. I was scared that if we started, you wouldn't be able to stop yourself, and things would get out of hand. I'm…. not ready for that sort of thing yet. Everything I said regarding the progression of our relationship was a lie."

What happened next surprised her beyond words. He turned around and faced away from her. He brought his arms in front of him and seemed to be fiddling with something. He shed his coat leaving him in his pants, and shirt. From there he rolled his right sleeve up, and turned around again.

He raised his arm up for her to see. It was his injured and non-functioning arm.

"Do you see this Nowi," he said, "This is a reminder to me. It is possibly a permanent lesson to me. I don't want to lose control of myself again. I know for a fact that I was a little heated up yesterday. And I'm glad that you stopped me. I need to be focused so I don't do something that I regret, even if it is as simple as looking wrong at somebody who doesn't deserve. Words and actions can't be taken back," he stepped forward then, and took her hands in his own. She could feel the strength difference in his grip from even that simple action, "Nowi you did lie to me, but I'm grateful that you didn't let me brood for long. You came back and told me. That's what's important."

"Robin?" she said.

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

He gave her a good grin. A wonderful smile that she was beginning to recognize as characteristic to him.

"Of course," he said, and those roiling emotions she could feel dissipated. They might come back again, but for then, in that moment, they weren't bothersome.

 **A/N: Phew. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! On this day one year ago, I posted the very first chapter of An Old Love. This one is a little late in the day, or maybe a little late in the year. 5 months too late. Months of uninspired writing has led to many rewrites of this chapter. Even today, the day on which I post this chapter, I rewrote the whole entire thing. I hope it is as satisfying to read as it was fulfilling for me to write.**

 **Well thanks for your time. I look forward to the time in which I can post the next chapter for your eyes and scrutiny, but until then, enjoy this one.**

 **Mr. Flusion**


	16. A Proposition

Chatpoter 16

It took a few days after their conversation for things to return to normal. Nowi spent the next two nights after that sleeping away from him, but he couldn't fault her. Heck the only reason that it was unordinary for her to not sleep in his bed was because she had done so for so long. Under any other situation, with them being unmarried, sleeping together would be nigh unacceptable.

He couldn't imagine doing such a thing with anyone else. It just felt like something natural to do with her, but he wouldn't do it with anyone else.

Then, on the third night, after he hadn't seen her all day, she entered his room, ignoring the guards as usual. They wouldn't stop her, especially after she had done so many times.

He had been in the middle of undressing. Preparing for bed. Luckily he had still had his small clothes on, and was able to quickly slip a thin and breathable pair of pants on, designed for keeping cool. They were expensive.

He didn't spend his growing fortune on much, but he had shelled out a lot of money to get himself some comfortable sleepwear.

Satisfied that his modesty was preserved, Robin, aware that Nowi was likely there for the night, began searching through his drawers to find a shirt as well.

"Good evening Nowi," He said, "what brings you here tonight?"

He already knew the answer, but he had almost resigned himself to his old sleeping arrangements. He wanted to hear her say the words.

She put her gloved hands on her hips, "what do you think Robin?" Ah. Of course she wouldn't give him the satisfaction. Nowi turned around and pulled her hair aside. "Help me get this dress off."

Indeed she would have trouble getting out of the dresses she had taken to wearing since she began living in the castle. They were designed to be trussed up by someone else.

He sighed, "of course," he said.

She had to stretch a hand behind her back to assist him because he could only use his left hand. It was slower than it could have been, but once she was free of the dress, he turned around and allowed her to get changed without worrying about him looking at her.

"Uh Robin?" Nowi asked him. He was smart enough to not turn around.

"What is it?" He responded.

"I forgot to bring clothes with me…"

He resisted the sudden and powerful urge to turn around.

"Well you can just put your magic stuff on. It's not like I haven't seen you in your attire before," he said.

Nowi ignored him, "I'm gonna put one of your shirts on. You don't mind right?"

That was a rhetorical question.

"Why didn't you get changed before coming over here?" he asked, he still dared not turn to look at her.

"I would, but then I would have had to walk all the way through the castle in my sleep clothes," she said matter-of-factly.

The simple fact that he knew he wasn't allowed to look only egged him on even more. Nowi had the final say, so he begrudgingly remained quiet and let her shuffle through his drawers to find the one with his spare shirts.

He heard a soft "aha!" before he heard a drawer shut for the final time, and then just a little bit more shuffling about.

"Alright Robby I'm all dressed now. You can look," she said.

There was blatant mischief in her voice. Before he turned around, he wondered if she was going straight back to her old self.

Of course she was playing around with him. He turned around to find her standing across the room, arms crossed and a smirk gracing her lips. Of course. She stood proudly, exposing all of her legs to him. She had only put a shirt on, and it barely did the work of covering her and keeping her modest.

He really wasn't too sure where he should be looking in that moment. He simply covered his eyes with a pace palm, trying to avoid looking at her directly.

She blew a raspberry, "Oh come on. You're no fun."

Robin continued to attempt to hide his growing blush, along with other growing, err, things.

Nowi was onto him in an instant. As he sat down on the side of his bed and uncovered his face, she sidled up right next to him.

"You're worried about me losing control of myself, and yet you do things like this," he said.

Nowi stretched an arm over his shoulder, failed, and settled for wrapping him in a side hug. She leaned against his arm.

"Yeah, well where's the fun in that?" she asked, "Besides, it's not like you _would_ do anything."

Robin sighed. He swore this woman was going to kill him someday. She was all over the place. A few days ago she was hiding from him, and terribly upset about him doing the very same thing she was doing in that very moment.

"Please… just go put some pants on. You're distracting me. I want to actually sleep tonight," he said.

She yawned, "Aww you're no fun. Can't doing anything to you anymore can I?"

She got up and headed over to his drawers to retrieve a pair of his over-sized pants. For a moment he wondered how much of her antics over the time they had known each other were purposeful, and how much of it she actually did on accident. Stuff like him waking up in their shared tent, with her sleeping on him.

Of course, using him for a body pillow had become a nightly occurrence, but he didn't feel like he could comfortably sleep in such a way with her bare legs grinding against him. She had a habit of straddling a thigh and anchoring down onto it.

Robin laid himself down under his blankets, and a (thankfully) fully clothed Nowi came over and crawled under the sheets with him. He made a mental note to have a closet installed so she could put all of her own clothes in it, and he wouldn't have to deal with these types of antics. Then again, if it wasn't one thing with her, it was another.

That night it was in the "another" category. Nowi wasted no time in rolling halfway on top of him, holding him down with her surprising weight.

He groaned, "You're just getting right to it tonight aren't you?" he asked.

"Getting right to what?" she asked innocently. She immediately snuggled right up, and rested her head under his chin.

Some large part of him really did enjoy the close physical contact between them, and desired for more, but the ever shrinking logical side of him told him it was best that things not go too much further, lest he allow a tempting mistake to happen.

Of course she did. He suspected she had done it the moment he had fallen asleep. Robin woke up to find a very, quite literally, half naked manakete sleeping on him. She had shed the pants he had given her the night before in favor of bare skin. Thankfully she had kept his shirt on, but that was the least of his worries.

She had pulled his shirt up, without his permission mind, and rested her face on his chest. Still not the worst of his problems. She drooled sometimes in her sleep, and now there was crusty dried spit all over his chest and her face. Thankfully, they were both covered by the blankets.

Robin really, really, did not want any of the servants walking in to fix up the room early in the morning to see this. Granted they were probably used to such sights, given their jobs.

Robin move slow, to avoid waking her up, and crept out of bed. He regretting leaving the warmth she provided for the cold stone floor, but it was in his best interest to get ready before she woke up.

Nowi was a very heavy sleeper, so he had no qualms about it, but he was still wary for signs of her stirring as he prepared for the day. His usual ritual. Hurried this time lest she wake up. He wiped himself down with the warm rag, dried himself, and got into clothes.

Robin grunted and groaned under the weight of Stahl and his sword. Their training swords clashed back and forth. Every time he blocked or parried a blow, he could feel his own grip weaken, and his shoulders stiffen. His elbow joints were sore, and he was tiring quickly. It was an understatement to say that combat was awkward, and he was growing weak.

His first order of business was to grow adept at using short swords, and rapiers. Lighter blades. They were a better fit for what he was physically capable of, and Stahl had volunteered to assist him in his endeavors. At least, for the short sword work. Stahl knew some level of unmounted combat, and was proficient with one-hand swords.

Robin's only problem- he was weak. He had neglected his body over the last year in favor of study and work. He was slimmer now, more so than he had been even when he first awoke in that field. To compound with that, he had hit the "puberty" so to say of a manakete. His manakete half had kicked in after twenty some years. That was to say- he was weak.

To say that he lacked the strength for such hard work was an understatement. Even Stahl, who was the very median of the shepherds in terms of skill and physical ability could easily overpower him. Robin had his skill still, but it was of little use when put to the test with his off-hand. It was a very disheartening experience, to say the least.

Nearly an hour in, and Robin was ready to give up.

Robin plopped down in the grass at the side of the training field, sipped from his water skin, and wiped the sweat from his brow. Stahl followed suit.

"Not used to your left-hand yet?" he asked.

Robin took another sip of water before responding, "It's a bit more than that Stahl. I'm sure you, like almost everyone else who lives and works at the castle knows, I'm a manakete. At least, I am now. We aren't the strongest bunch of people."

"But I've seen Nowi fight," Stahl responded, "She's impressively powerful."

"That begs the question. You haven't seen her try to fight anyone in her human form have you. There's a reason. Our Dragonstones hold all of our original physical prowess, and then some," Robin explained.

"Well," Stahl said," I guess that makes sense, but what are you going to do about it? You used to be really good with a sword." Stahl stretch his arms up and then set them behind himself as he said this. He leaned his weight against them and looked up at the patchy sky.

The answer was simple to Robin.

"I'll just have to avoid fighting in the melee all together," he said, matter-of-factly.

"Heh. I guess that's as good a plan as any," Stahl said.

"I don't even know if I'll be fighting extensive battles anymore," Robin said, "It's not like we are at odds with the other countries around us. We have a very profitable alliance with Regna Ferox, and Plegia isn't exactly up for fighting anymore."

"Well you never know do you?" Stahl said, after a short time.

"No I suppose you don't," Robin said, "Not really."

Robin stood up, corked his water skin and grabbed his sword. He felt recovered slightly and was ready for another few rounds. He stretched out is tiring shoulders and did a few trunk twists.

"You up for a few more rounds?" Robin asked Stahl, who was, likewise, standing up.

"No thanks, Robin. I thought I would go get what's left of breakfast, before it goes cold and they give it out," he said.

"Of course. It might be good for me to find another partner and try my hand with a rapier," Robin said.

He bid Stahl farewell. It was typical behavior from the green knight. Nobody could out eat that man, yet he stayed in fair shape. A testament to the work he put into physical training.

With that said, Robin went to the store house and put up both of their equipment. He then selected a rapier. It was _the_ tool for showy battles, yet they were still deadly swords efficient at working through chinks in armor. The favorite weapon for duels between nobles. Taking the practice sword in hand, Robin knew he liked it much better than the short sword.

The length of it was much more akin to what he was accustomed to wielding. He should have tried out more weapons when he first joined the shepherds. Instead, Robin had stuck with the same sword type that he had woken up with. Hand-and-a-half broadswords. Very similar to Chrom's own Falchion. Short swords were more of a back-up weapon anyway. Something a soldier would unsheathe should he lose his spear.

Robin took his rapier out to the yard, and ran through a couple of drills, modified for his left hand, and lack of ability to use is right. Immediately he felt the difference. Rapiers were a dodgy type of sword. He wouldn't be able to block oncoming blades with it. Truly something for one on one combat where he would have the room to maneuver away from his opponent, though the real thing was quite a bit sturdier than a practice tool. Robin was certain if he positioned the blade right he would be able to deflect oncoming attacks to a degree.

It was there, while he was running through drills that Frederick showed up. Frederick was, unusually, dressed not in full plate armor, but rather in simple gear fit for training. In his hand he carried his own rapier.

"Robin. Might I have a moment?" Frederick spoke to him.

"Of course, what do you need?" Robin said.

He stopped drilling, and took a couple of deep breathes, little as it did to calm his labored breathing.

"Exalt Chrom asked me to assist in your training, at least for the day," Frederick said.

"You know how to use a rapier?" Robin asked. It was a stupid question. Of course Frederick did.

"Milord is the Exalt, and before that he was the Prince. It ill behooves one of royal station to settle all of his dispute with nobles. Fencing is an art that I have known for as long as I have served the royal family."

"Good enough for me," Robin said, "Shall we get started then? I'm a bit tired, but it's nothing I can't work through."

Frederick immediately assumed a fencing stance. It was one designed for rapiers and dueling. A stance Robin had seem a few times, and had been attempting to copy. Now he had a prime example right in front of him.

Robin copied Frederick.

"Close," the knight said, "Spread your legs a little further, and angle your back more forward." Robin did as he said, to the knight's satisfaction, "Better. Remember it."

Frederick, apparently satisfied that Robin was standing properly, lunged forward immediately going in for the training kill. The training rapiers had padded and thickened tips. Even blunted they could draw blood when stabbing. So the padding prevented the bloodletting. It didn't prevent the pain and bruising though.

Frederick got him right where his heart would be. He would be dead in real combat, but this was training.

Robin retaliated with a swipe of his own. An experiment. He wanted to see how Frederick would misdirect his blow.

The knight slid forward, well with arm's reach, and blocked his attack using the blade close to the hilt of the sword. Frederick parried and then disarmed him. A swift twisting motion, brought pain to Robin's hand and he was forced to involuntarily drop his weapon.

"Ow," Robin stated, holding his wrist.

"Be careful with distances when dueling using a rapier Robin. A real rapier can deal deep wounds with its cutting edge, but the real power is in the thrust," Frederick lectured.

Of course, Robin knew that. He was a tactician. It was his job to know all about different types of weapons. It was a whole other ordeal to attempt to learn a new fighting style. Moving from hack-and-slash bone breaking weapons to something much more precise was a change. Of course, it was a change he was willing to undergo. He already decided that he liked the impressive reach a rapier had.

Frederick assumed his stance. Robin quickly retrieved his sword, and followed Frederick's movements.

"Now. Again," the knight said.

Robin sighed as he ate his meal. Frederick, as usual, took to his task with zeal, and Robin had been unable to leave the training field until the knight was satisfied with his improvement. Which meant he was slightly early for dinner, and far too late for lunch. Robin was beginning to think that Frederick, while he knew Robin was now a manakete, didn't care.

Or maybe the knight assumed that a little pain, and long sessions of training were all he would need to overcome the weaknesses of his race. Either way he hurt. All over the front of his body. Bruises, he was sure, covered every inch of his chest, stomach, and arms, which made doing things painful. That included the painful motion of eating.

Eating, for Robin, was already somewhat of a challenge, seeing as he had some difficulty with cutting his meat with a knife. He only had one available hand, and it was beginning to frustrate him. More than frustration, he felt embarrassment. He was a famed soldier, well known for his skill, the royal tactician couldn't even enjoy a proper meal without struggling.

Libra, being the best healer and all-round physician in the shepherds, couldn't tell him what was wrong. Something was. It was abnormal for his grip strength to be so weak, even for the type of injury he had. Poison and all. At the very least, he should have shown some sign of nominal improvement.

Robin didn't realize he was sitting at the table weakly flexing his right hand. He came out of his thoughts to see what he was doing and immediately stopped. He but his useless hand in his lap and continued eating, attempting to seem as normal as he could. It would be fortuitous if nobody had seen him just sitting there staring at his discolored hand.

He finished his early dinner quickly, and left the dining hall. It would begin to be busy soon, and he wanted to leave before the room had a chance to grow hot with the bodies of many people. Soon all of the shepherds and nobles would be in there with their servants running about tending to their needs and desires. Seeing as it was the royal dining hall, even the shepherds, who were soldiers and used to the rough treatment of a soldier's life, were catered to.

Now he had a job to do. Something he probably should have done the day before, yet neglected to do so. Chrom had given him a list of people. An extensive list. These were all of the people Chrom had invited to the ball to be held the day of the anniversary of the war's end. It was organized by family and their level of influence in terms of running the kingdom, and the economic benefit that they each provided Ylisse. Each invitee was given a physical description, as well a short list of do's and do nots.

Chrom wanted him to be prepared for the ball. It would be the first time that he would be meeting much of the nobility. He needed to make a good impression, and starting by learning about them was an excellent start. It was a lot, of course, and paled in comparison to meeting and speaking with each of them, but it was serviceable. It was necessary information, and he started with just a few families at a time.

Who to speak kindly to, or to speak carefully around. Whom was betrothed to whom. It was a mind-numbing exercise in his memorization skills. Of course it would allow him to do his job much better than before. Chrom knew he liked to know about the people he talked to. Every Shepherd was interviewed by him, upon entry. Of course that was for combat and pairing purposes.

Robin sighed. He wasn't even in his office yet, but just thinking about having to go through the process was making him bored.

Suddenly.

"Robin Robin Robin!" it was Lissa

"What?" he asked, as she came up beside him.

"I need your help," she said.

He was skeptical of her. The last time she "needed his help," had involved several frogs down his pants.

"What do you need help with?" he asked, humoring her.

She began pulling on his arm, "It's Nowi," that got his attention, "She's just sleeping out in the gardens."

He crossed his arms, "and?"

"And… well. Somebody could," she swiped in the air, "Snatch her up. You know?"

"Yeah sure. So Nowi, the thousand year old _Divine_ dragon, is in danger of being stolen away in Ylisse, where people just about worship her," he said.

"Oh just come on. Stop trying to rationalize away her danger," Lissa said.

She immediately began dragging him along. He simply sighed, and allowed her to tote him with her. It wasn't like he would be able to defer her away from him. She could be quite… persuasive. Yes that was the word to use.

Either way, Robin was dragged through the castle, down several flights of stairs, and through a large archway, which led to the gardens. A large sprawling complex, which was open to the public for a few hours a day around noontime. Many people from Ylisstol visited every day, and some people would travel for weeks from surrounding cities in order to see it. Of course, only the wealthy could afford to take a sabbatical to the castle gardens. Especially as of recently. Bandits and the Risen made traveling dangerous or expensive, or both.

Lissa walked him down the central path, which lead to a fountain. A marvel of magic and engineering. If one was to visit the gardens for any reason, the fountain was the number one reason, while there were other such constructions in the city, none could match the marvel of the one he now stood before.

Robin took a moment to look at the masterful architecture, before he spoke to Lissa.

"Alright, so I'm here now. What do you need, or can I go back? I've got an evening of studying nobles' families ahead of me," Robin said.

Lissa just grinned sweetly at him. It wasn't the sweet village girl grin, but one she put on when something was about to go down. The look on her face caused a thought to run itself through his head.

This fountain, and other places in the gardens aside, where quite popular spots for proposals. Men would often lead their soon-to-be-betrothed to these locations, as to add a scenic value. Robin frowned.

Would Nowi do that? He didn't think so.

"You know Lissa, if you simply wanted to get me out here so Nowi could talk to me, you would have done better to say so," he said.

No she wouldn't. Robin was almost certain that manaketies did not marry. At least, not in the traditional _human_ sense of the word. The joining of two manaketies was less of a legal issue, and something closer to a spiritual one, if his memory served him properly. He had glanced over a section pertaining to it in the book. Nope.

Nowi suddenly exploded out of a nearby bush, something he was too busy overthinking to predict. Her sudden appearance sent him flying into the clouds, or as close as one could get when they jumped in fright. Lissa took the moment to disappear, laughing the whole way. This left him alone with a very satisfied Nowi, a humorous smirk stapled below her small nose.

"Good one eh?" she said, giggling a little bit.

"Gods Nowi. I was expecting something like that from Lissa, but adding you to the mix? I don't know," Robin said, scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah I agree, it definitely was a good one," she said. She completely ignored him.

Perfectly aware that Lissa had skipped out of there rather quickly, Robin asked his tentative question, "Can I assume that you had Lissa bring me out for more than just a good jump scare?"

"Of course you can. I've brought you out here for a very specific reason."

"And what is that reason?" Robin asked, slightly nervous.

"I brought you out here to propose."

"What?"

 **A/N: Good day. I hope this chapter finds you all in good spirits. It is my greatest wish that I set up a regular schedule for my updates. This means no more spontaneous 3 chapter updates back to back. It also means, that (Hopefully) you can expect something every Friday/Saturday, depending on your time zone and how I feel.**

 **With this comes some responsibilities. One thing: It means that I'm going to be attempting to put together a considerable backlog. The only drawback to this is that it will be harder to make future changes to my story based on reader suggestion/speculation.**

 **This chapter was written on 7/9/18**

 **Mr. Flusion.**


	17. A Hidden Village

Chatpoter 17

"I brought you out here to propose," Nowi said.

"What?" Came Robin's confused reply.

She shifted her wait around a little bit, and pulled her hand behind her back.

"I Propose," she lifted a finger, "That I take you to a manakete village."

"What?" he repeated. That was not the proposal he had been expecting. It he sighed, and gave thanks to Naga for sparing him.

"Geeze Robin, did my surprise this morning leave your brain melted or something?" she clunked her fist onto the top of her head.

"No. Thank you very much," he almost snapped at her. He was still reeling from her sudden and unexpected proposal, "Uh, why do you want me to go to a manakete village?"

"I thought I might be obvious to you, Robin," she said, leaning forward, "There are… things… you need to learn," she said with pause.

"And where is this manakete village located?" he asked. He wanted to know how far they were traveling, how long they would be gone, and if he could bring his list of nobles to study on the way.

"It's… oh I don't know, about thirty hours as the dragon flies." She said.

It was a three day journey if they flew for the extensive amounts of time a day, but that was a bit unrealistic for him to expect Nowi to accomplish.

Robin sighed, "But we aren't going to fly the whole way there are we?"

"Of course not," Nowi waved in the air, "That wouldn't be a whole lot of fun for me. I mean, I could fly the whole thing in one nonstop trip, but that would be no good. Even splitting it up over a couple of days would be exhausting."

"I suppose," Robin said, thinking, "We could take a carriage to the closest human settlement."

She grinned up at him, "My thoughts exactly. Glad you see it my way."

"Thirty hours," he mumbled, mostly to himself, "a carriage for most of that distance… 2 weeks? Maybe. Long distance by carriage. Might have to rent out multiple separate transports. Well… hmm… money isn't an issue, willing participants is the issue."

"Uh… Robin?" Nowi waved a hand in his face, breaking him from his thought trance.

"What is it, Nowi?" he asked.

"Sorry you where spacing out there, and mumbling a lot," she said.

"Oh. Was I? I apologize," he said.

"You know, sometimes Robin, you think a bit too much. How hard can it be to get transportation?" she asked.

"Nowi you haven't been privy to all the paperwork I have. Chartering travel from someone is dangerous these days. The Risen have a bad habit of just appearing out of the sky, or popping out of the ground. A lot of people have died recently attempting to travel. Anyone with the smarts or money goes with several mercenaries guarding them."

"Oh come one Robin," Nowi said grinning, "Risen ain't got nuthin on us," she was joking around.

"It isn't much of a joke, Nowi. I'm have the soldier I was one year ago. I've got my magic, but my right hand is lame. If we got into a situation you would have to do a lot of the heavy lifting, which might not be enough," he said.

"Oh lifting shmifting. Let's just walk there on our own, no carts, or money spent. If we get into danger I can just fly us out of there. Easy peazy," she said, as if it was the simplest thing in the world, her transforming and carrying them to safety. Maybe it was. He hadn't transformed on his own before, what did he know of it's simplicity.

"If we're going to do that I'm going to need time to prepare. You know, get supplies. Food, water, survival gear," he said. He wanted time to study the nobles.

"No need for that," she grinned, "I already got the packs together, it's what I did all day." She finished.

"Oh really," he crossed his arms.

"Tent?"

"Check."

"Knife."

"Check."

"Rope?"

"Already done."

"Vulnerary?"

"Two bottles. Do I need to keep going?" she asked.

"One more thing," he said.

"Of course," she answered.

"You knew about the cost of safe transport didn't you? Already got camping gear and everything."

"Why whatever do you mean, Robby?" she tilted her head to the side cutely, bringing one finger up to poke at her own cheek.

"I give up. Let me go study. There's a ball coming up, and Chrom wants me to know about the attending nobles," Robin said.

"Nooo…" Nowi fell against him, forcing him to support her weight, "That's boring. You know what isn't?"

"Let me guess," he crossed his arms and braced himself to keep upright under her weight, "You having tea with Lissa? It's her weekly get together with Maribelle."

"Ohmygosh. I totally forgot. You can go study or whatever, I need to go dress up," Nowi said. She ran off, sprinting into the castle. She would need to go all the way to Lissa's room to pick up her own clothes. That was where she had been storing all of her extra clothes.

Robin suspected she was borrowing a lot from Lissa. The Princess likely had a lot of old dresses and skirts, immaculately kept, which would fit Nowi.

Nowi sat at the table for tea. She knew she didn't look any worse than the next in the room, but she felt somewhat ordinary seated next to the Chrom's own wife. Sumia. She knew Sumia had risen to her station, rather than be born into it, but she carried the royal air very well.

This occasion was outside of Lissa's daily tea with the noble ladies who regularly visited the castle. Once a week she didn't have tea with the "masses" as Maribelle put it, but rather had an invite only session, which comprised only of her close friends and family.

The occasion Nowi was currently attending held a fairly small number, and required only a single table. Those around the table included: Sumia, Nowi, Lissa, Maribelle, Cordelia, and surprisingly Panne. Why was Panne there? She hadn't been seen since the end of the war.

"Robin wrote out invitations for everyone to come to Ylisstol, to celebrate the end of the war. Who am I to turn down an invitation, food, and lodging," she had said.

How Lissa got her to have tea time, Nowi would never know, especially considering Panne never seemed to like her too much.

Once everyone had seated and been served, Lissa immediately pounced on the situation.

"So how'd it go," she said. Lissa was, of course, referencing her conversation with Robin.

"As well as you could expect," Nowi said, "He immediately set about trying to plan the trip, where we would stop, the costs, the time it would take. Etcetera." She took a sip of her hot tea.

"Good for you darling," Maribelle said.

"What's this about? You asked Robin to go on a trip. Pray you aren't secretly married and going honeymooning?" Sumia said.

"Of course not. Manakete marriage is a bit more complicated than some ceremony and then BOOM some kids," she lifted her hands to accentuate her point.

"O-of course, of course," Sumia said, before taking a sip. She blushed a little. Something a little too close to what happened between her and Chrom perhaps.

"You're going on a trip with Robin. You know the roads are dangerous as of late. Where are you going?"

"Of course I'm going on a trip, we have plans in place in case we run into trouble. He is a tactician after all. We all seem to, including him, forget that point. Especially after he's been out of work for a year. As to the location- I won't say. It's sufficient enough to say that we are going to a manakete village, but it would be a little bit law-breaking to tell you all where."

"Of course, of course. He needs to learn something of his other heritage. He isn't all human after all," Maribelle said.

"Wait," Panne butted in, "Robin is a manakete? Preposterous. He smells like a human. When did this fact come to light?"

Cordelia coughed.

"Well you see, there was a bit of a, so to say, incident," Lissa said.

"Robin's first transformation was a bit rough. He's only a half-manakete, and his traits didn't start to manifest themselves until recently."

"That is sensible enough," Panne said, crossing her arms.

"Well what about you?" Lissa asked Panne, "What have you been up to after you left the shepherds."

"Searching. In hopes that I find some remnant of my kind. My hopes are not high, but there is some small chance that I am not the last," was her blunt response.

"Of course," Lissa responded. She wasn't put off in the least, but then again, they had all grown use to Panne's blunt nature during their time together.

"Back to Nowi's trip," Sumia said, "What are you two going to be doing at the village? You can't just be going to show him the life manaketies live in their own society."

Nowi chuckled softly, "Well I do have a few extra things planned. We have like what? Two months. Until the anniversary. I want him to go there until the big ol' party, and then, once again after. He needs to learn how to control the new power and all that. There's a lot I can't exactly do for him, as just one. There are plenty of much older manaketies in the village, who could help him out much better than I."

"I suppose now would be a better time than any," Sumia pondered, "He can't exactly write very well at the moment, not for lack of trying of course, and Chrom is already shouldering Robin's work. Maybe a vacation, if you can call it that, will be good for Robin."

"Perhaps you should worry, dear, about getting there before you worry about any relaxing or training you'll be doing," Maribelle said.

"Nah," Nowi said, "We got this in the bag. It'll be easy as pie. Robin's an excellent mage, and I can turn into a dragon. What can go wrong?"

 **The next evening; everything is going wrong.**

Robin and Nowi were weaving between the trees as fast as their legs would carry them. They had lain down and were in the process of preparing for sleep when it happened. A group of Risen surprised them. They couldn't fly away, as they were in a very heavily forested area. Nowi couldn't even transform for lack of space to do so.

Robin had set up a small wind spell, which would alert him if anyone was to trigger it. A good plan as any, as it let them both sleep peacefully without having to hold a watch. Either way they hadn't had time to re-pack their tent. They barely had enough time to get their packs and essentials.

As a matter of fact, they wouldn't have been running if they hadn't been unlucky. Robin tested a theory, a theory which was good information. The Risen, dead shambling bodies as they were, were stupid. The only reason they had been found was because one of the creatures had quite literally stumbled into their tent.

That one was dead in seconds, but their position had been given away and they had to sprint. Luckily for them, they both had better than average vision. It turned out that having manakete eyes was much better for night vision than anything else. If nothing else.

They quickly pushed through the underbrush, and weaved around trees. The Risen could be fast when they wanted to be, but it looked like they were losing them. Soon, they had not seen nor heard the Risen for some time.

Robin stopped and surveyed the situation. It did not appear as if they were still being chased, but one never knew with the Risen. They did have a habit of disappearing and suddenly, instantly being where they shouldn't. Luckily, none had every attacked the Ylisstol. Not from the inside at least.

"I think that we should try to circle back around, maybe stealth kill a few of them, and get our stuff. We are too far away from a settlement to try and hike it for more supplies,"

"Uh, Robin? You know I could just fly us to the nearest town right?" Nowi said.

Robin leaned against a nearby tree, "Well of course you could," he said, "But you made it pretty clear you wanted to walk to this village."

"That I did, but keep it in mind we'll have to fly eventually. It's impossible to walk to the village, it's too high-"she was cut off.

There was a sudden rustling in the brush nearby.

Robin readied his rapier, one he had hastily acquired. It did not fit his proportions as well as something he might have commissioned for his personal use. For fear of stabbing a person, Robin gave the Risen time to push its way through. Once he had clear vision, Robin lunged forward in a manner similar to what he had seen Frederick do against him.

The training he had ingrained into his body was still there, and Robin pierced directly through the eye hole of the Risen. It exploded into purple dust.

He turned to Nowi, "Don't expect a fluke like that again, getting someone in the eye isn't easy." She gave him a pat on the shoulder.

"No worries. It's not like we are relying on your combat ability on this forest."

Robin reached into his coat, and produced a very small green tome. He handed it to her.

"You may not have training in the use of tomes, but, well it's better than nothing," Robin said.

Nowi pouted at him, "Oh come on. I've had over a thousand years to learn magic. I didn't study like most mages, but I had plenty of time for trial and error."

"Of course, master," he said, rolling his eyes.

He was unsure if she could see his exaggerated gesture. He didn't know how much better her eyes were than his. It was near pitch dark under the thick growth of trees.

"Tell me you have a plan to get our stuff back." was her response to him.

"That I do," he said matter-of-factly, "The Risen aren't exactly smart, and they aren't especially quite either. Our only serious problem is going to be getting overrun by numbers. I'm not sure how many there are. Including the ones we killed? At least ten."

A rough estimate, but indeed it was a small pack. They had been appearing in larger and larger groups as more time passed. Packs as big as 50 were not uncommon.

"Only ten? What's the problem? Let's just kill them all and go back to sleep," Nowi said.

"Not as simple as that. We could kill them all, but we would have to change our camp around. Make it so that they can't simple stumble directly into our tent," Robin grunted.

"Well let's start with purging them then. They give me the creeps. I'd rather we killed them all, rather than let them live," Nowi shivered.

"Of course we have to kill them if we can," Robin said, "They could attack other travelers. Not everyone is a skilled soldier."

"Right," Nowi agreed, though he could feel her motivation rested beyond helping a nameless traveler.

The Risen really rubbed her the wrong way. This was his first time seeing her during a Risen attack. She really _did not_ like them at all. She needed to kill them because their very existence was wrong.

The realization dawned on him, that she was a Divine Dragon. The Risen seemed to be inherently made from dark magic, going so far as to Gangrel's advisor being able to control them with the magic.

In that moment he decided it was best to get rid of them, if not for anyone else's sake, but for Nowi's own sanity.

"All right then," Robin started, "We need to stay together, don't leave my side until we are certain that every last one of them is gone. We're going to move forward slowly and cautiously, though there isn't a whole lot of tactical maneuvers we can pull against them with just the two of us. Just… try to kill them as quietly as possible. We don't need them rushing us all at once."

Stealth. There wasn't much more he could say. They had to try and remain undetected.

Robin crept forward, slowly making pace back to their tent. It was a distance away, but they had made a pretty clear path through the forest to follow. He really couldn't afford to be caught. Direct combat with a Risen was not a good idea. They were already superhumanly powerful. Combined with his and her underwhelming capacity to do strength maneuvers, it wasn't a good prospect.

That was how they killed every Risen. Slow. Quiet. The Risen had given up the chase and had taken to slowly ambling around the area, looking for some victim. It was easy. Absolutely nerve wracking, but easy.

They made some of the creepiest sounds he had ever heard, and it didn't help that he had to sit near them for extended lengths and wait for an opportune time to strike them down. Nowi spent most of the time using the wind tome to silence the Risen.

She was more adept at magic than he had previously thought, and managed to sufficiently muffle their cries, so he could dispatch their silent bodies. Wind magic was perhaps the most versatile type of anima magic. _And_ it had many applications.

Robin would have called what they were doing grisly work, if they had been doing the same thing to actual people. With Risen though, there was no blood. Their bodies were husks that held a mindless soul. It magically ran on instinct to kill alone.

Robin was exhausted. They had to be on constant alert, in case one got the drop on them. His muscles were tense and beginning to stiffen. He did not doubt that he would wake up sore and very stiff.

Soon, however, they were finished. The killed every single undead monster in sight, and he did a sweep of the area to make sure they wouldn't be caught while rearranging their tent. Robin strategy for setting up the tent seemed to be sound.

He angled the tent so that the tent flaps were up against a tree. This was somewhat of a problem, as it made it difficult to slip in and out of the tent, but it gave their shelter an extra layer of security. Thankfully nothing of theirs had been touched, trampled, or otherwise tampered with.

That was something Robin was very thankful for. Preparations once again complete, it was nearing sunrise, but they were both a little too tired to continue their journey, so Robin and Nowi unanimously decided to sleep in until the both of them were once again awake.

He quickly set up the wind magic perimeter again.

Satisfied that they would be safe to go back to sleep again, Robin quietly squeezed into their tent again, in case Nowi had already fallen asleep. She hadn't. Nowi was sitting under the covers of their sleeping roll, waiting for him to come back in.

Of course, in true Nowi fashion, she had only packed a single set of bedding for them. Not that he necessarily minded, of course, internally. He still felt it was somewhat improper. They weren't married. He suspected that this little trip of theirs was related to their relationship. He didn't know how though. She had said she wanted them to court properly, yet he didn't know what that entailed.

Robin decided his thoughts were best left for later. He sighed and got under the covers next to Nowi. He didn't know why he allowed her to sleep with him. It felt weird not to. It simply felt good, and natural, for her to snuggle up against his side, and share her warmth with him.

 **A/N: Alright. This one's a short one. One of my shortest, but then again, I haven't actually put out a considerably sizeable amount of chapters quite yet. If you all think it's a bit slow, don't worry I do too. Over the course of the next few chapters we'll probably be skipping around a bit.**

 **I really didn't intend to send Robin to a manakete village. That was all Nowi's idea. It wasn't supposed to happen, sadly. Regardless, I'm not one to ignore my characters when they speak to me, so here we are. Robin and Nowi are going on a trip to a manakete village, spend a few weeks there, and make the return trip to Ylisse, where they can celebrate the anniversary.**

 **After that… well who knows. I sure don't, not solidly anyway.**

 **I Hope chapter finds you all well.**

 **Completed 7/10/18**

 **Mr. Flusion**


	18. First Sight of The Village

Chatpoter 18

"Stop right there!" A young looking manakete shouted to them.

He was approaching at a running pace. He held a Dragonstone in one hand. Robin presumed it to be a threat, as Nowi didn't need to be directly holding her stone to transform. It was a threat he took in stride.

Robin acknowledged the manakete's presence, and threat, but he did not draw his own rapier, or bring out a tome. He was a good distance away, but Robin was able to discern what he looked like, thanks to the eyes he had accidently given himself.

He stopped in front of them, yet seemed to completely ignore Robin. Instead, the manakete turned to Nowi.

"Why do you bring this human here?" he asked her.

"But he is not fully human," she flourished, "This man is of half-blood."

That was a tone of voice he hadn't heard from her before. It made her sound regal, and important.

"A half-blood!" the manakete turned to him. By that time, other villagers were beginning to come out of their homes, "Prove to me that you are as she says."

It was something he had suspected, and even expected. He couldn't transform yet. That could be a problem.

Robin fished his Dragonstone out of a hidden pocket he had recently found. The coat continued to offer up new surprises to him, even after a year of use.

"This is all of the proof I have. I cannot transform yet," Robin said.

"Allow me to take and hold it for a moment," the manakete said.

Nowi quietly gasped beside him. A short and sharp sound that told him this was a surprising request.

The manakete reached out as to take the Dragonstone from him. Robin felt a sudden and intense apprehension overtake him. Quickly as he could, Robin recoiled his own hand with the stone away from the manakete in front of him. Quickly, he slipped it back into the hidden pocket, where it would be safe.

"I'm afraid that I can't let you do that," he said in reply.

The manakete seemed to think for moment, before extending his hand again. A gesture for a handshake.

Robin took his hand in his own.

"Enjoy your stay," he said. He stomped off.

It seemed to Robin that the manakete was, on some level, against him being there. It really was impossible for him to tell their ages. He may very well have just shook hands with a several thousand-year-old dragon.

"The one was very young," Nowi commented, as if she knew exactly what he was thinking, "He wasn't alive the last time I visited this place."

At that point a much more amicable looking person approached them. This man appeared to be much more experienced in the ways of the world than Nowi. He looked old. Robin wondered how old a manakete had to be in order to look such an advanced age.

"Don't take what that one says to heart, dear," he said to Nowi, "He is young. Quick to make rash decisions. He is barely past his hundredth summer. He was not to be watching and defending for occasions just the same as this."

Nowi introduced the old manakete to him, "This is Banter. He's the village elder," she said.

"It's Bantu. Dear," he said with much patience. He turned to face Robin, "Indeed. I am the village elder. I can only imagine what Nowi has brought you to us for. Perhaps we can discuss over a cup of tea."

"Sounds great!" Nowi said.

She jumped in before he could say anything. _Was this perhaps her goal?_

He examined the old manakete. He was definitely the most experienced person Robin had ever met.

Robin couldn't say. Because he had only seen a few manaketies, or paintings of them, but they all looked very young. Looking at Bantu, he looked very old. Something like a middle aged man.

"I've forgotten," Bantu said, out of the blue, "I've lived for countless human lifetimes. I've seen the rise of kings and the fall of empires. I once traveled with the hero king Marth, and I was already old then."

Robin coughed and glanced at Nowi. Manaketies could sense emotion and intentions, to a degree. Bantu probably had a much more refined sense than either him or Nowi. He couldn't imagine how vastly powerful the old dragon was.

"I could say I'm amazed, if Nowi hadn't already taken all of my amazement at being a dragon, and stolen it," Robin said.

"Yes," Bantu answered, "I'm sure you've had quite the experience," he chuckled, "Come along I can show you to my home."

"Alrighty then!" Nowi said, and started walking into the village as if she already knew where she was going, and she probably did.

"Wrong way dear," Bantu said. Nowi turned around in confusion, "I moved into a smaller abode closer to the edge of our small establishment. Oh say about three decades ago?"

Nowi turned around a promptly followed behind Bantu, as if nothing had ever happened otherwise. Robin smiled at her, and fell in beside Bantu.

They took a route around the outskirts of the village, and as they passed the crowd, the people dispersed back to their daily routines. A few of the youngest looking ones followed behind them at a short distance, staring at him curiously.

"So how about we get started then," Bantu said, to no one in particular, "What brings you here to our hidden Ylissean village?"

Nowi spoke up, "Well a few things, actually," Nowi started, giving him a look, "partly for leisure, and partly for business. Maybe add a dash of stress relief?"

"Mixed reasoning as I understand. This is a small and quiet location, maybe ideal for relaxation, but I can't imagine business doing well here, that is, unless it's about your half-manakete friend here," Bantu said.

"Indeed," Nowi said, "If we just wanted to relax I can think of many other places that would do just as well, which don't require as much travel time."

Bantu faced Robin, "Tell me. How long have you known about your heritage?"

"Not long," he responded, "it was only a recent discovery."

"hmm. I see. You seem to be very well under control. Perhaps it is your half heritage? Many of our kind, at your age, begin developing there draconic abilities, and it can be a little messy."

"Well my discovery of my powers wasn't so, um, gentle," Robin said.

"Yes," Bantu said. He took a moment to survey the village, "Up here in the mountains we are secluded from humans, there are many reasons. It is dangerous for them, and dangerous for us. It would not do to start a war between our kinds because a young one lost control in the middle of a human settlement."

Robin nodded along to his lecture.

"It is good that you have Nowi with you. I fear the consequences for you to have discovered yourself alone. I saw earlier that you have a Dragonstone. At the very least that is a good step forward. The first transformation is often one of the most fierce, and you don't yet have a Dragonstone until after of you come into your power. There is nothing to help control you. The disease of madness takes over. Take care to keep your stone close. The loss of the stone is a scar on the spirit."

Nowi was being oddly quiet as he conversed with Bantu. He took notice of her sighs and wandering eyes. It must have been the first time in a long time that she was around her kin. Though he noted that none of them seemed to have the same noble air about them that she did. Different species of manakete.

"Ah we are here," Bantu said, "Allow me to make some tea and perhaps we can continue our conversation."

Bantu, old as he was, was still not unable to perform routine tasks. He was a dragon after all. Robin wasn't entirely sure what age meant for the manakete. He could already see an obvious maturity difference between Bantu and Nowi. Just simply in the way that he held himself. Nowi could just as well be a child in the face of Bantu.

"So what's it like living in a manakete village?" he asked Nowi.

"Different than human settlements. It's quiet. Not busy. The concept of nobility barely exists. We have what you might call royalty, or we did. It has been a long time since manaketies have been united under the banner of a nation," she said.

These were all things he knew.

"It seems like a very slow environment," Robin said.

"Yes. I feel that you wouldn't like living here. You're too busy for that," she responded.

"Well not lately," Robin shifted his arm into the air, "Can't do much cohesive work with this old thing. Been learning to fight let handed with a rapier though. When next we need action I'll be ready, though I suppose this is greater incentive to further my studies of magic…"

"Oh you'll be fine. In time it'll probably heal. It's not like you won't be able to use it for the rest of your life or anything. You've got a long life ahead of you after all," Nowi soothed. She paused a moment before grinning at him, "I'll get to cut up all your food for you until then," she teased.

"What makes you think I'll not simply just eat my steak in large bites? Chrom is not one for courtly niceties or manners at the table. He is more than happy to just eat with his hands. He wouldn't stop me," Robin countered.

Nowi pouted at him. Bantu then chose the perfect time to arrive.

"I see you two are getting along. I am glad to see such playful conversation in a young couple," Bantu said, "Though your arm… What is wrong with it?"

Robin chose not to correct the old manakete. It was not like he didn't intend for it to be true soon. Nowi was trying to teach him something, and he was apt to figure it out.

"Poison," he responded, "a Grimleal assassin sent to kill Nowi and I. It has damaged parts of my forearm and ruined my grip strength. I feel it will be some time before I recover."

"I am sorry to hear. Perhaps we can speak of happier things over the tea," Bantu said.

"Nah I'm good," Nowi said, "I'll pass this time around. We've got some time to be here for a while. I was just waiting with Robin while you made the tea," Nowi stood up and dusted herself off, "I'm gonna go and catch up with a few people."

She was gonna before Robin could even bid her farewell. Robin sighed and clacked his fingers against the hardwood floor.

"Sometimes… With her. Ah. She wanted to speak with you yet she ignores this opportunity," Robin said.

"There will be plenty more opportunities to come young man. I'm not going anywhere for a while yet. You've got time to be here," Bantu said, "I assume she wanted me to talk with you about something?"

Robin crossed his arms, "hmm. Well she's been testing me lately. We've been getting closer for a while now, yet we've plateaued recently. I've procured a book about manakete. It has information on physiology, history, and even some culture. As far as I know it doesn't have what she wants me to know. She won't tell me either."

"Romance problems eh?" Bantu laughed, "Yes I would assume you, who hasn't grown up with our customs and habits, might have a difficult time. She is stubborn with her preferences. Perhaps she feels neglected in some way?"

"Neglected? I don't know how… well I suppose I don't have much knowledge of such things in general," Robin said, "Ah why did she force this? I can't think of anything else she would want me to talk about with another manakete that she, herself, couldn't tell me."

"mmh," Bantu thought, "manaketies are very, very physical Robin. And _very_ public about it. it's all about showing everyone what you are to each other Robin. Say… something like claiming ownership. Think of yourself as being lucky. I do not think Nowi will ask you for public copulation."

 _What?_

"I see," he could feel his face heat up at the mention of sex.

Bantu chuckled, "You hold very human ideals Robin. I suppose you can't really help it seeing as it is how you were raised. Perhaps, at least consider being a bit more open minded about it. I am sure things will improve."

Robin coughed, "Is that really all? Physical intimacy?"

Bantu laughed, "Maybe. Take my advice or ignore it. I'm sure things will work out on their own eventually. Let us discuss something different then. Tell me then. Do you know your species heritage? It could help in manifesting your power and controlling it."

He was grateful for the change of topic, "I don't know. Nowi couldn't tell either."

"I see then. Perhaps you are of mixed origin. Exceedingly more unlikely due to the fact that you are also partially human. Most manakete prefer members of their own tribe you see. It keeps bloodlines flowing. It's also the reason the tribes are so distinct."

"That might make sense. Perhaps I'll manage to transform during our little vacation out here. We can find out then. It is the major reason for coming out here, as far as I understand. Nowi wants to-"

"What do I want to do?" Nowi walked in.

"Ah my girl you've returned at a good time, though I can't say you were out long," Bantu said.

"Yeah I was just looking around to see what had changed. Not much it seems. A couple of new faces since the last time I was here. Not many though…" she said.

"Yes indeed. This village shrinks by the century. There are others who are just as curious as you towards the outside. They leave to have an adventure and meet new people. Some of them return occasionally to check in on friends and family, but I haven't seen many of them for some time," Bantu said.

"I figured. It felt emptier, but the place looks about the same," she responded.

"Is leaving the village a common thing?" Robin asked.

"Not in particular Robin, but we manakete have long lives. Even if only one or two leave in a century the rest that remain will remember them," Bantu responded.

Nowi sat down and poured herself a cup of tea.

"Back on track," she said, "What do I want to do?"

"Ah nothing my dear. We were simply discussing your reasons for coming here. Robin and I were speculating on his tribal origin though I can't be sure unless we can see at least some of his transformation."

"Oh…" Nowi said. She looked down between her legs for a moment, "Well we can certainly work on that while we are here." She took a sip.

 _What did she expect us to be talking about?_

"Good then. Perhaps we can do that later or even tomorrow. Best to get started on something early now. I'm sure," Bantu said.

"Perhaps tomorrow then," Robin said.

"It's settled. Perhaps I can get someone to show you two to a house. We have a few vacant ones at the moment. I'm sure one of them will be enough to accommodate you two.

 **A/N: Aaaannd I'm back again. It's Christmas break and school is out for a month. I was hoping to use this time get back into writing regularly. Now I've only got my job stopping me from writing all day! Sorry for the short length of the chapter, and inordinate amounts of dialogue. It was meant as a bit of a practice bout to get back into the swing of writing again and everyone was feeling really chatty for some reason.**

 **Completed 12/23/18**

 **Wow looking back at the dates on my last chapter it's been 5 months.**

 **Mr. Flusion**


	19. Learning From a Knowledgeable One

Mornings were humid in the mountain valley. It would be wet until the sun could rise high enough to burn all the moister up. The grass was dewy and a light fog blanketed the village. It was an odd feeling. Being in a cluster of mountains, and in a valley no less, the sun took forever to rise. Robin had developed a habit of waking up just before the sunrise, so it surprised him to wake up and it still be dark outside.

Nonetheless, he couldn't go back to sleep, and it was quiet out in the village. Not a soul stirred inside their homes. Perhaps sleeping late was a manakete thing.

Though it meant getting out of the warm bed, Robin went to find if Nowi was indeed just as conscious as the rest of the village. She had opted to sleep in a separate bed in a different room. She was still sleeping, covered by the thick layers of blankets which hid her form.

He had forced himself to not dwell on the reason she had not shared her warmth with him over the night. He had grown accustomed to it. Almost to the point that he had felt cold underneath the covers.

Seeing that she was not going to be getting up anytime soon, Robin decided to leave her be, and enjoy the morning. Bantu had left them with some things. Just a few items to help with their stay.

Just outside the door to their small building was a pile of logs. They would be soggy from the dew and misty fog in the air, but that would be no problem for his magic. Robin lifted an armload and carried it inside, where he placed the logs under the chimney.

From there it was a simply matter of pulling energy from his Dragonstone. As he focused the small fire in his hand he could feel the small sapphire heat up from within his hidden coat pocket. Once he was sure that it was hot enough he launched the small ball of energy into the logs. It was hardly a powerful spell, and wouldn't be able to go for much distance, but it did the trick.

With a surprising pop one of the logs caught and he was in business. The wood creaked as the water trapped within was boiled out. Soon he was boiling his tea over the fire. Not one much for tea, he still knew that Nowi liked it. Not that he didn't like a nice cup of tea. He didn't have regular tea time with some of the other shepherds though, unlike Nowi.

After pouring a cup for himself he took a sip. Robin wasn't much of a connoisseur when it came to tea. No doubt Maribelle could tell him exactly what he was drinking based off of the taste, but he held no such interest in it. With a cup for himself Robin went and stood outside and watched as the sun slowly inched its way into view.

It fascinated Robin. The way the sun rose into the sky. One minute, you look and it's quite dark out. The sky is a deep purple-black color, and then faintest hints of blue appear on the horizon. If you wait a minute the sky where the sun would rise would turn many shades of color, and then, faster than it probably should be, the sunrise was over. He missed it that morning. It seemed like he looked down to take a sip, and in that small amount of time the sun managed to climb until it was fully visible in the sky and quite painful to look at.

He heard shuffling from inside. A thud, then a quiet curse to the pain. He chuckled to himself.

Robin stepped inside to greet Nowi.

"You're up early," He said.

"Mmm…. Don't know how you do it. Every morning you get up _so_ early. I hope our kids aren't like that." She mumbled.

"What?" Robin asked.

"Your tea woke me up," she continued, "I'm awake now, so I might as well have a cup."

"Of course…" Robin said.

He moved over to the slowly cooling kettle of tea and poured a new cup for her and refilled his own cup. The steam from the still hot tea blew in his face as he filled the cups.

"Is the sleeping really a manakete thing?" he asked as he handed her the cup.

"Yeah you're just unnatural," she said, "We need like, I think, two or three more hours of sleep to function properly. Try it some time you might feel better." She took a sip.

"I feel just fine as is," he said.

She took a sip, "You say that now, but wait till you accidently 'sleep in' and find yourself feeling better than ever."

"We'll see. How did you sleep? By the way." Robin said.

"Well enough. Still a little sleepy, seeing as _I woke up early._ " She responded.

"You can go back to sleep if you want," Robin said.

She took a sip, "No no. I'm already awake and drinking tea. No use trying to sleep now."

She was waking up a little more. He could tell. She was grouchy, and awake enough to use it. It wasn't good when she was grouchy in the morning. He hadn't realized at first, but it happened whenever she didn't sleep enough. It reminded him of all the times on the march where she ate something portable for breakfast because she slept right up until he had to clear out his tent.

"If so then we've got a little while until the rest of the village wakes up. The sun has just risen, and nobody is out there as far as I could see. It was foggy out though," Robin said.

"The mornings are frequently foggy up here," Nowi commented.

The two sat in comfortable silence for some time, sipping their tea, and filling their cups until it was far too cold to be drunk anymore. Robin made plenty of tea. Perhaps too much.

Soon he could hear the sounds of activity outside, and saw the early risers of the village out and about. They were the farmers and ranchers. Mostly. People out to start their day of work tending to their crops and animals.

He figured it was time to get out and about as well. The fog was beginning to clear up as well, and it would not be long before the sun was shining completely unobstructed into the valley.

"It's probably about time to get going, I've got a long day ahead of me, and I'm sure you've got some catching up to do with your peers. Do you think Bantu will be awake right now," Robin said.

"Probably. He likes to be up early as the farmers so he can assist if anything happens.

"Heh." Robin finally set his tea cup down, "Thinking about manaketies farming just doesn't seem to fit. Humans have built them up on a pretty big pedestal."

Nowi pressed her lips together, "Indeed."

"I'm going to go. I'll see you later. If you want to come and help, then feel free," Robin said.

"Alright then, this looks like about a suitable place," Bantu said, "Not too far away from the others but it gives us some space."

"How do we start this?" Robin asked.

"You can cast magic right?" Bantu said.

"Of course." Robin held his hand out and let the electricity sparkle in between his fingers, about the best he could do without a tome.

"Good. Good. That's a proper step in the right direction. You can pull power from your stone. That's the first step. This always comes easier to more magically gifted manaketies, not than any of us aren't, mind you," Bantu said.

"So part of it is pulling energy from the stone?" Robin asked.

"Something like that," Bantu mumbled, "You see, doing a full transformation can take some practice, and it feels strange at first. Essentially, you are pulling the magical half of yourself out of the Dragonstone and applying it to the physical world. You've already been doing, whether you realize it or not."

Robin crossed his arms, "What do you mean?"

Bantu pointed lazily at him, "Your coat, son. More durable, I doubt you wear traditional armor do you? It probably has just enough pockets for all of your belongings."

Robin quirked his eyebrows. Well yeah his coat was magic. Did Bantu mean that his coat was like Nowi's clothing? The armor she felt uncomfortable wearing?

"Oh? Seems you know what I'm talking about. Perhaps Nowi has discussed it with you? Far from me to question why she isn't wearing hers, He laughed.

"Well I suppose it is understandable. Human customs are a bit different. I am sure her normal attire, coupled with her body. Hmm not something many humans are comfortable seeing."

Robin flushed slightly at the thought. Her manakete armor was rather… revealing. It wasn't the reason she refused to wear it, but he would never tell that to anyone.

"Let's move on," Robin said, "Manifesting our dragon form in the physical world?"

Bantu laughed, "Ah yes. That. It will probably be a while before you can fully control a complete transformation. We can do more than just a full dragon form you know. We can pull specific parts," Bantu paced to the left a little, "For example: if you wanted to merely fly a very short distance it would be much easier to only form your wings. It costs less energy and requires less of your focus."

"Okay," Robin said, "Then how do I do it?"

"Best to start with something simple. Your teeth perhaps? Teeth are _so_ simple in fact that most manakete keep some sharpened fangs at all times in their human form by accident. Most actually can't hide their fangs."

"Go on," Robin said.

"Imagine your teeth in your mind. Think about changing them. Pull magic from your Dragonstone, and instead of casting magic with it, put it into your transformation," Bantu said, "Simple to think about the in practice it can take some doing."

Robin did not respond, already focusing as Bantu said. He imagined his teeth. He had seen them in the polished silver mirrors in the castle. Fangs. He'd seen Nowi's. Two on parallel sides of her mouth. He reached into his hidden pocket and unconsciously gripped sapphire Dragonstone.

The magic flowed into him, and immediately began to coalesce into his right hand out of habit. He forced it away, and felt the tingling feeling flow back up his arm from the hand that barely felt. His teeth were small and he realized that he had pulled far too much energy out for such a simple task.

Nonetheless he shot magic in and imagined the fangs he had seen on Nowi. She had been his only reference for so long. He felt with his tongue how the pieces of bone grew in length and became sharper. He felt how his lower jaw reshaped itself in response. He hadn't told it to do that, but the extra magic he had pulled had simply gone and done it anyway.

The process was complete, and he opened his mouth and felt around with one finger. Fangs all right. He could feel that he would pierce the skin on his finger if he pushed against his teeth too much more. He closed his mouth again, and the fangs slid into their new space. Space that hadn't been there before.

"How does it feel?" Bantu asked, stepping forward.

"It is different. It doesn't hurt," he said,

Robin licked around his new teeth. Strange. There was no better word for how it felt. If he was to describe it, he would say that it was the very opposite feeling of losing a tooth and feeling around the empty space. His jaw felt stiffer. He couldn't grind his teeth back and forth anymore. At least, not without jutting it uncomfortable inward or outward.

Bantu gave him a bit more time before he spoke, "It is good that you did it on your first try. A manakete's first transformation can be quite the experience, and often leaves behind hidden mental barriers."

"I only wish to control the other half of myself," Robin responded, he scratched at his new fang with a fingernail, "the best way to prevent any more…" He waved his hands in front of himself, reaching for something, "mishaps."

Bantu stroked his chin, "Perhaps, but allow me to remind you that simply being able to choose when you transform into your draconic self does not let you escape the maddening disease of our kind. Losing serious control of your emotions can always trigger an episode of madness. It is a step in the direction of self-control nonetheless."

So it was.

 **A/N: Sorry for the abrupt end. These last few chapters have been bumming me out. Alas I dug my own grave by making them go on this trip. Fear not, for I am hopeful that by putting myself back on track with the game's plot will fix my issues.**

 **I pray this finds you well.**

 **Completed: 2/6/19**


	20. The Start of a War

**Pretext: trying something new here. I'm skipping ahead a little bit, and perhaps breaking the continuity of the timeline if you were to track the calendar of my story. Nonetheless if I want to make progress, continue writing, and actually finish this thing, it needs to happen.**

The fields just outside the city of Ylisstol were busy. Tents stretched far on both sides of the gates. The smoke from hundreds of fires rose into the sky. Soldiers trained in centuries drilling formation and simple orders. They were orders he had come up with. Short commands that had layers of meaning.

As he passed through the new encampment more men appearing in wagons, and were greeted by a quartermaster.

"I wonder why Chrom is amassing an army. For it to be this big already he must have started soon after we left," Robin said, loud enough that only Nowi could hear him with her sharp ears.

Nowi shrugged, "I wouldn't know why. Do you think something happened with Plegia again?"

"I highly doubt it. They've only recently managed to hold the official coronation for the new king. They wouldn't have the army to threaten any country. Chrom has been loath to go and meet with the new ruler, so we don't even know who he is," Robin said.

"Oh."

"We had better hurry. Chrom is probably frazzled trying to hold the nobility together while also preparing for whatever," he waved at the camp, "this is."

Ylisstol was abuzz with activity. More people than he had ever seen before crowded the streets, pushing, shoving, and shopping. He saw no less than four Annas. The greedy family of women where capitalizing on the situation.

The guards let them in at the front gate with nary a wave nor informal greeting. One of them sprinted off, presumably to inform Chrom, while the other bowed slightly and continued his duty.

As soon as they were in the castle wall, he turned to Nowi.

"I'm probably going to get swept up in meetings. You should get some rest, maybe see Lissa. I'm sure she misses you," Robin said.

Nowi knodded, "Sounds like a plan I could've come up with. I'll see you tonight then I guess."

She skipped off in the direction of the royal apartments, likely about to go and make Lissa's day.

Chrom met him not soon after. He looked tired. Purple bags under his eyes showed his lack of sleep.

"You got back just in time," he growled, "Things have gotten crazy and busy around here…" he paused for a moment, "I'm glad you're back. It's been hell," Chrom sighed.

"I can imagine from the look of things," Robin said.

"We would have sent a pegasus messenger, but gods, Robin a manakete village? Of all the places you could run off to. You'll have to tell me about it later. Not now. I've got to catch you up."

"Perhaps we should sit down in a meeting room?" Robin said.

"We can walk and talk. I've got some non-confidential stuff to go over before we get to the planning and logistics."

"Alright. Get down to it and don't be skimpy on the details," Robin said.

Chrom took a deep breath, "We were attacked. Or, rather, Port Ferox in Regna Ferox was attacked. It was the Valmese. Without warning they docked at the harbor and took the city. Even now they fortify their position. They've started to build walls around the city, and the force is too large to respond quickly to. We have got just about enough to start marching and help the Feroxi with their problem. Flavia has been amassing her own army."

Robin nodded, "What of the occupying force? How many? What types of troops?"

He knew the answer already, but he needed to be very sure. Cavalry. The Valmese countries were legendary for mounted combat of all types. They would have wyverns, horses, and many heavily armored men. This wouldn't be like the war with Plegia. Plegia made a name for itself with magic. Mages who could stand in a line, and devastate an army from afar.

The Valmese Cavalry was different entirely.

"They have horsemen. Mounted archers. Wyvern riders. Mounted mages, and hundreds of heavily armored men. Their numbers are only estimates. A few thousand. Gaius managed to get close enough and he says that maybe about 3000 "give a thousand or two." " Chrom said.

Alright. At most about 5000 men. Mostly mounted.

"Anything else?" Robin asked.

"We've started to reassemble the shepherds. It turns out Virion is a duke from a small country in Valm. Not too long after the Valmese landed he came and asked for help. A man by the name of Walhart has finished conquering all of the western continent and has set his eyes on our countries," Chrom said.

They reached the meeting room designated for the occasion. Several people were already waiting inside for them. Frederick, Virion, Gaius, Cordelia, and a woman he had never met. She stood next to Virion until he had centered himself beside Chrom at the war table.

She bowed low to him, "Master Robin. I am called Cherche. A vassal to Duke Virion."

Robin nodded and acknowledged her.

"Yes indeed. A beautiful vassal as any. Why she is perhaps the most gorgeous woman in all of Rosanne. She even-"he cut off with an undignified shriek as Cherche pulled one of his ears.

"I like her already," Robin commented wryly, "Anyway let's get down to business. What have we done so far in the preparations?"

"I'm sure you've seen the large camp outside Ylisstol. We've managed to gather about 2000 fighting men and women, plus another 300 tagalongs. More will come, but the bulk of our forces will come from Ferox. Flavia has managed to gather double our number in the same time. We'll have enough to deal with the Valmese given a smart plan," Chrom said.

Robin turned to Cordelia, "How many of your Pegasus Knights are battle ready?"

"Objectively?" she said, "None of them. Not to the same standard that they used to be at least. It will take years of training to get back to the level we used to be. About 300 of them I would say are skilled enough to fly into battle right now with acceptable results."

"Good enough," he said, "Keep them training. All of them. When we march I want every specialty unit we have available, even if they can't fight yet. There are many uses for a pegasus."

Cordelia nodded, "I'll keep that in mind."

"Frederick what's the status on our mounted division?"

"Ready as ever. We've had many volunteers but it will take time before they are properly trained and outfitted." The knight said.

"I'll have to get a status report from the mage's college later. What about monks, priests, and clerics?"

"Libra would be here, but he is busy organizing them and allocating medical equipment with Maribelle," Chrom said, "We've got a sparse number of healers."

"Many of the mages in the royal college have studied the staff, and it is tradition for the Pegasus Knights to supply their own mounted healers. We've got a few more than you might think," Robin said.

"We have 15 knights who can wield staves as well," Cordelia added in.

"Excellent," Robin said.

"Let's talk tactics. We're dealing with the Valmese. They are famous for their mounted combat. From Gaius' report Chrom has spoken to me about they have mounted archers and mounted mages among them. Beyond that they have wyverns, and a few hundred heavily armored soldiers. This is not to mention a few thousand normal cavalry units. Now. We probably have until mid-summer or early fall of next year before the main attacking force arrives. For now let's focus on the current problem. This initial force of men.

"We're going to have a numbers advantage," he said, working his brain quickly, "not only that, but this force has nowhere to go. Their home is a few months at sea away. If we can destroy the chain of command it's likely that the rest of them will surrender. Once we've gathered together with the Khans we can discuss and plan to a much greater detail but for now we can hash out a simple set of ideas."

It took a little bit for Nowi found Lissa. She, sadly, wasn't in her room and Nowi had to trek to the _other side_ of the castle to find her. After consulting a maid, she found the Lissa was having tea with the queen. It wasn't a regular tea time, all the others who usually attended the gatherings were probably busy with their tasks.

She stood outside the door and dusted herself off, made sure her clothing didn't look too wrinkly and waited for a guard to announce her presence.

"Lady Nowi is at the door," the guard said, peeking into the room.

"Allow her in," Sumia said from the room.

As soon as she got into the room she was hit with a wave of… something…

Anxiety? Maybe.

Sumia was worried about something. She was hiding it well. Lissa probably couldn't tell.

 _Okay. Time to get the act together._

She took a deep, calming breath that she hoped was subtle enough, before grinning wide at the two women.

"How's it going? Robby and I just got back from that manakete village waaay up in the mountains," She lifted one hand up to emphasize the height. "You shoulda seen the place. All foggy in the mornings and stuff."

Sumia chuckled, "I'm sure you had a good time. It's been a little chaotic here since you two left."

Lissa stood up from her seat, "Yeah we kinda got attacked. Things'll get better now that Robin's back though," she walked over and gave Nowi a hug, "You need a bath. And look at your hair. I hope you at least tried to take care of yourself while on the road."

Nowi was apprehensive, "Of course I did, I just forgot to bring a brush and comb for my hair is all. I borrowed one in the village, but the trip takes a little while so I haven't had the chance since leaving. Doesn't matter though. It'll be fine."

Sumia took a sip of her tea, "Lissa why don't you get some maids to draw you two a bath. I'm sure you two could do some caching up. I'll have Cordelia in a little bit. Once she's out of the war meeting."

 _War meeting? Things are crazier than I thought. Then again, they **are** getting an army together._

"Yah know that's not a half-bad idea Sumia," Nowi said, "Let's get to it! I could use a nice warm bath right about now."

And so they did. Lissa found a few maids and had a large bath drawn for the two of them. It seemed that them taking a bath and having a chat was going to become commonplace.

"So how was the trip?" Lissa asked as she ran soapy fingers through Nowi's long hair, "Anything spicy happen?"

"Not besides the spicy food no. It was far from exciting, but it was fun. I'd been away for so long. It was nice to see some old familiar faces you know. Oh! Well I guess we did take care of some risen, but that's old hat at this point. Even common villagers who can barely wield a pitchfork are picking up on how to deal with the undead," Nowi said

"I was talking about Robin," Lissa said, "Anything happen with him?"

She sighed, "No. I told him to wait a bit and learn to do things a bit more traditionally manakete. I think he's taking it really seriously. He's barely tried to even touch me for casual contact," she wined, "I don't think it's gonna get any more fun until he figures out what I meant."

"Well why did you tell him to try being more traditionally manakete then? He barely even knows who he is yet," she murmured, "His identity keeps on changing."

"Because it's part of who he is. He needs to learn. At least a little," Nowi said, "Besides. No offense, but a lot of human customs and social rules are boring and stuffy. I mean don't get it wrong. It does feel nice when he holds a door open for me or pulls the chair out for me to sit on when we eat meals in the dining room. It's just. It doesn't feel like we're getting anywhere and human courting can take years."

"Hah!" Lissa laughed, "You complain about waiting for years, but have you seen yourself? You're a thousand-year-old manakete and you can't wait for a few years. Some people never learn patience." She was exasperated.

Nowi smiled, "You're probably right."

"Darn right I'm right. Turn around and do me now," Lissa said.

"Alright, you gotta turn too," she said.

Nowi lathered her hands in soap. Not nearly as much as Lissa needed for her, but still plenty. Lissa was a big fan of lavender as a scent. Nowi found that she liked the smell of peaches and oranges. Fruity stuff.

All of the soaps and oils they were using where lavender scented.

"Yah know it's kind of nice. Being able to just relax like this. It's probably not going to last. We're going to war." Lissa slouched a little.

"It's like a last hurrah. I'm sure we'll be able to take baths even while at war. We won't be fighting all the time," Nowi said.

"Maybe not," the princess responded.

"Definitely not. That would be crazy."

"I just hope that it ends quickly. I've seen too much fighting and killing to last a lifetime."

"So here's my plan," Robin said, placing both of his hands on the war table, "They know we're coming. Our scouts have reported them forming up for battle. This isn't going to be a surprise attack. We'll engage with the Feroxi shields and spearmen. Behind the front lines I want a line of mages to take down the wall. It's not large but it's enough to protect them. While they distract the forces I want our Pegasus Knights to fly overhead. As high as they can go. I don't want any downed fliers today. They can drop fléchettes* overhead. They have an advantageous position so we're going to need to brute force it most of the way."

"Simple, not at all easy, and lots of fun. As usual Robin, I am impressed," Flavia said.

"It's hardly my most brilliant tactic. Sometimes there isn't much to do besides send waves of men and just win. About the most tactical we can get today is executing any officers. The less leadership they have the better. There is no home for them here. Not anymore. If there is nobody leading them then there is no point in going on. They'll surrender."

"As long as we're all agreed on with the plans I'll relay the orders," Frederick said.

"None at all," Chrom said.

"As good as any plan," Cordelia nodded.

"Hah! Like you even need to ask," Basilio said.

Frederick bowed, "I shall take my leave."

"Remember. Don't be afraid to make up plans on the fly if your unit gets separated. Our lives and the lives of our soldiers come first, retreating is not something I'm afraid to do." Robin said.

Everyone nodded in in agreement, and the meeting hall was soon empty.

The meeting was early in the morning, and by noon the battle lines were drawn. Rows of archers stood atop the makeshift walls that the Valmese had erected. His battle lines were all set, and everyone was carrying a shield. Even the mages who would need a free hand to cast magic carried a large shield.

He was interested in preserving lives. Approaching on such a defended position was not ideal. Robin much preferred the idea of being the army that was behind a thick layer of brick, but that wasn't how war always worked. He knew what they were probably going to try and do.

It was a passing thought, when he remembered that this was not a simple siege. They were an occupying force and any help was about a year away. A small town did not have the resources to hold them for that long. At the last minute he made adjustments to the formations, preparing for flanking maneuvers that the mobile horsemen would be able to pull.

"Advance!" Chrom shouted over the silent army.

His order was taken up by every officer, and in a wave from their position the lines began marching forward. The lines were long. He fully planned to demolish those walls in one blow.

This was not the charge of an open battle field, yet many of the men chose to shout and scream their defiance at the Valmese army. It was almost comically out of place with the steady marching pace with which they went to deliver destruction. They weren't walking. Gods no, it was more like moving forward with extreme intent.

An intimidation tactic.

Even as they moved forward Robin kept an eye on the center of the lines, where the shepherds took their place. A hardened, cohesive unit that was both fluidly separate from the rest of the army and also completely in step with them. Even from so far away he could feel the determination coming off of his own in waves.

It gave him a sense of pride to know that he was a part of that group. The most well respected warriors on the continent. It warmed his heart and set a smile on his face to look at them and see Donnel's silly pot, or the big empty space in front where he knew Kellam should be.

"What are you smiling about?" Chrom asked.

"Just… admiring the view. It's about to get intense. Come on let's get into the form."

Robin ran ahead and retook his spot. He couldn't join the fray until the real chaos started. After the walls fell. Soon they were in range, and the hell of arrows fell upon the army. It was nothing like what they might describe in a war novel.

The flying arrows did not cover the sky thickly. No there wasn't nearly enough archers for that. It was more like an intimidating swarm of bees coming at them in small waves a few hundred at a time.

Despite the shields the Ylissean-Feroxi army was still taking injuries. Men and women fell. The ones still conscious crawled away as their comrades stepped over them. Healers would get to them once it was safe. They were still saving the few psychic staves they had.

Soon the mages where in position. They jammed their pointed shields into the dirt and began casting. Seeing the different skill levels was quite a sight. He saw Miriel, in all of her skill, conjuring a massive fire ball, while Ricken, right next to her was crafting a much smaller ball of energy. Fire magic was not his specialty.

The battlefield lit up and hundreds of balls of fire, glowing in every shade of orange and red imaginable. The men grew silent, their shouts and battle cries silenced by the display. The arrows stopped firing, whether they were in awe, or knew that the arrows would simply burn up he did not know.

A great shout of "FIRE!" came out from the arch sage and suddenly the battlefield wasn't silent anymore.

A wave of fire and death flew from the hands of the Ylissean mages and crashed into the walls of the Valmese. An explosion rocked the earth and his ears popped and rang from the sound. All of the pent up intensity fell through in a cascade.

"Charge!" Chrom cried, and with a great shout he ran forward.

The lines swiftly reformed and the mages moved to the back, then; the chaos. His Pegasus knights bombed the enemy back lines with sharp metal, and his front lines jumped over the rubble of the short walls.

It was devastating. All of the men on the other side. Archers and foot soldiers. They all perished before the eastern armies. Not long after, Robin spotted, from both sides, lines of horsemen. They came out from the frozen Feroxi forests in a pincher movement. A movement he had anticipated.

Robin shouted a warning order, and the back lines rerouted themselves until the army was essentially facing outward in a big U shape.

The "Fun" Flavia mention had begun. He expected a flanking maneuver, but not for the majority of the enemy forces to participate in the flank tactic. Several scores of Wyvern Riders met the Pegasus Knights in the sky, and soon it was raining massive bodies onto both sides of the battle. He sprinted to join the shepherds in battle. The formations were set, and the back-ups were in motion.

As he ran through the men he saw a great gold and green dragon take off into the sky. It worried him that Nowi was taking off with such a hellish flight environment, but he knew she could make a big difference in the aerial battle, which might as well have been on another plane of existence from the ground forces.

He pulled his tome from a pocket. Not a standardized thunder tome, but one of his own making. He had written several after the end of the Plegian war.

He had been practicing. He could hold it with his right hand, just barely, and casted the magic with his left hand.

Robin came up beside Lon'qu.

"How's the wife?" he asked.

"Killing," the stoic man said.

So she was. Panne was a terror in battle. There was something to be said about a giant rabbit moving twice the speed of a horse and many times as agile. One powerful kick from her hind legs sent men flying from their horses. Most were dead before they hit the ground.

"Best follow her example," Robin said.

"Indeed."

Robin sent a few bolts of energy at his foes. That was the thing about lighting magic, especially powerful lighting magic. It was absolutely draining to use, but each individual shot sent many of the enemy to the void. It sparked between men and horse, catching on metal armor and leaving charred patches of grass.

Lon'Qu jumped in front of him and slew a charging soldier who had lost his horse. They were very determined.

Robin looked up, hoping to check on Nowi with his brief respite. She was doing fine. She launched a ball of fire and a wyvern, before pivoting and- Oh no!

"Nowi!" Robin turned and sprinted through his soldiers.

"What?" Lon'Qu said, but he received no response.

 **Fl** **échette: French for "Little Arrow"**

 **A fl** **échette is essentially a small pointy metal rod. It's designed to be pretty aerodynamic and can be dropped from a great height to cause lethal damage.**

 **Completed 2/7/2019**


	21. Out of Control

**Pretext: I will be writing most of this chapter in an incoherent mess. I've contracted a debilitating cold, and may have the beginnings of a Pneumonia which a family member had when I was tending to them over the weekend. Nonetheless, most of my other hobbies require too much reaction time and brainpower to do properly and sleep is for the weak. Have fun reading this. I'm certainly enjoying writing it.**

 _Why do they have ballista? The scouts didn't report it. Ballista big enough to send such large missiles are all but completely stationary._

He tried ignore his own screaming emotions, but it did little to stop the transformation as he sprinted towards the dragon falling from the sky. He sprouted wings from his back, and his skin turned to grey-black scales. His fingernails sharpened themselves, his eyes grew red and pupils slitted, his teeth turned to fangs.

He unconsciously flapped his wings, testing them for flight. When he was assured that they would hold him, he launched into the sky, straight toward Nowi, who had already since transformed back into her human form as she fell.

He flew forward, and thankfully some sliver of his logical side told him to not stop her fall right away. He caught her in his arms and fell with her, furiously and laboriously flapping his wings to slow their descent. He steered towards the camp, where he knew several healers stood waiting.

Lissa and Maribelle ran out to them. They looked at him with awe and fear, but it was quickly replaced with worry when they saw the small creature in his arms. She was bleeding from her stomach and one arm.

"Give her here," Maribelle said, "Get back out there now, you'll do no good standing here."

He reluctantly, and without words gave Nowi into Maribelle's arms. Now that he was actually giving her away he really didn't want to. They took her and hurried into a tent to get to work.

He fell to the ground when sudden relief washed over him. Suddenly his emotional pallet was empty and he began looking for something else to feel. Those who looked on at him in that next minute would look with fear at his dark expression.

Rage. Wrath. Hatred.

He stewed on these new feelings that replaced the fear and panic. They boiled over and he took off. He flew to where he knew the all of the ballista would be. Passed the crumbled wall and a line of enemy footmen. A line a siege weapons stood waiting.

How they had so many was beyond his thought at the moment.

He crashed into a ballista, destroying it outright, before turning on the operators who all screamed as they died.

He turned away from the pulpy, bloody mess of blood, gore, and wood splinters and sent a bolt of fiery lightning at the next ballista before running past the sizzling scraps of soldier and exploded wood to assault the next in the line.

They were now aware of his presence in the back line.

Soldiers rushed in from all angles, and they all fell to his might. He ignored his useless right arm and focused on ripping and tearing. He had fangs, and a sword, a rapier, not meant for such gritty combat against so many at once, but sharp and pointy nonetheless.

 _"_ **Foolish mortals. Run and cower before me!** "

He laughed as he slaughtered them. Soon they stopped charging after him and started running.

 ** _Perfect. That is their purpose._**

This was the hard part though. Grima gave chase, running down the Valmese soldiers. They sprinted through the streets, riding on their puny horses. He caught all the ones on foot. A large group of them made their way to the docks. He knew they would try to escape on their boats.

He pulled out the fire tome from his dark coat and began casting. The black fire coated his hand and licked hungrily at the air around him. So strong was the power of the fire that even he was beginning to have difficulty breathing while near it.

Before he finished charging it to its full power, lest he suffocate himself, he sent the stream of dark flames down the lane. All the men and women in the way died horribly. They screamed and he reveled in their sacrifice to their lord. The tome turned to ash in his hands.

The all-consuming flame ignored all other buildings in its path as it flew to the docks. There it crashed into the ships, going through each one, and chasing after every piece of wood with a mind of its own. He felt the deliciousness of the souls flowing to him. There, in his mind, he corrupted them, and soon the risen where surfacing on the wood of the docks, climbing up and lumbering towards the town.

He smiled at his work and laughed again. The screams of people trying to hide in their homes started.

It suddenly struck him that he had been enjoying himself a little too much. He forgot his purpose in going so far. He turned and strolled back towards the edge of town where the rest of the ballista sat.

Suddenly he felt very strange. Uncharacteristically weak. He wobbled forward on unstable legs, still determined to finish what he started. He fell to his hands and knees, breathing heavily. Air came to him in short gasps. Then the darkness zoned in from the edges.

"Shh he's waking up."

"Be careful."

"I know. That's some serious damage."

"Should I go and get anyone?"

"No. Let's evaluate him first. Robin."

Robin opened his eyes and tried to sit up immediately. He strained to no avail. He was too weak to sit up. It was as if his entire body was in a state of muscle failure.

Lissa lightly flicked him on the forehead, "Don't do anything dumb, you're drained. We were picking splinters out of you for more than an hour."

"Darling don't be assaulting our patients now. He's hardly ready for your abuse."

"Maribelle…" Robin croaked out a harsh whisper, "Is Nowi…" he couldn't even complete the sentence. It took too much.

"She's fine dear. You're in worse shape now than her. Your body was under a lot of magical stress. You are pretty sturdy so I'm not surprised you survived, but still. You can't be pushing yourself like that. This army needs you."

He turned his head to look back up at the slanted roof of a building. They weren't in camp. _How long ago was the battle finished?_

As if she had read his mind, Lissa spoke up again, "It's the morning after the battle in case you were wondering. We weren't sure how long it would take you to wake up."

He looked at her closely, and then glanced over at Maribelle. That they were both slouched, swaying a little bit, and dirty. It said much. They hadn't rested at all since the conclusion of the battle. He couldn't put his order into words. _Go get some sleep, take a bath. You're both covered in dirt and blood._

"Are you in any pain darling?" Maribelle said, leaning over and putting an ear to his chest. She nodded to herself after a second and stood back up.

"No," came his one-word answer.

Not pain. Exhaustion. The kind of physically limiting fatigue that was so extreme it reached the mind.

"You were quite the fearsome sight you know. A few of the Pegasus Knights caught sight of you destroying the Valmese siege equipment, before they lost sight of you," Maribelle said.

He simply hummed in response. He remembered. Unlike last time. He remembered more clearly than he wanted. What he did. What he saw himself do. _What he had felt about it. What he still felt about it._

He felt horrible, because even after coming back to himself, he couldn't regret what he did. He had relished in the suffering of his enemies. He was still basking in the afterglow of power.

Suddenly he was reliving the memory again. The person manning one of the ballistae. The one he tore, literally, in half. The confusion on his face. Not pain, nor fear. The poor man, in his final seconds had been asking, _why._

Robin had an answer, he pulled it from somewhere deep within himself. _You deserved it._

"How are you feeling Robin?" Nowi asked.

"Much better," he flexed his arms, "soon enough I'll be walking again and we can get on with this. Chrom has already sent a messenger to request permission to enter the country."

"You know," she said, "That was dumb of you."

"I don't regret it."

"I hope not. I happier being alive and not splattered on the ground."

"I feel the same."

"Still though," she said, shifting to put a hand on his lower thigh, "You can't be straining yourself so much. We're gearing up for a campaign against Valm you know. What happens if our tactician dies because he was trying to do too much?"

"I'm not going anywhere and you know it. I'm far too stubborn for that." He shifted his weight until he was sitting up and resting on his elbows.

From his position he was impossibly close to her face. Close enough to feel the air coming out of her nose as she breathed. _Such a profoundly intimate thing_.

"You're the tactician you're smarter than that. Misfortune can happen to anyone. If you remember, I got hit by not one, but _two,_ javelins while _flying._ " She held up two fingers for emphasis.

"Well I haven't died yet, and it's not on my list," He replied.

"Robin I'm being serious here. I don't care if you're a manakete. Dragons are immortal, not invincible. You'll die to the same wounds as any other man. You need to be even _more_ careful about draining your life force with magic. You're a dragon. You use it for everything. Magic makes your coat protect you from damage, it makes you transform and stay transformed. You are a mage, so you use your magic to do battle.

Robin you barely had _any_ physical wounds. Your hands, legs, face, and parts of your chest. They all had splinters of wood in them. You got this way because you overexerted yourself. If you hadn't killed them all in the process of bargaining with your life then they would have killed you when you blacked out."

Her words were only the truth. He knew that, and yet he couldn't back down. How could he? The Valmese were monsters. Invading for no reason, holding a town hostage. Waging war. **_Nearly killing her._ ** Even in their own homeland they had used conquest as a means for expanding their power. The battles were only going to get harder and more complicated. Not easier. Never easier. Things never were.

"I'm sure if I _can_ slow down. We're getting ready to go into Plegian territory. We may have defeated them, and they may have little military, but there will doubtlessly be people still out for blood. Not to mention the risen. Gangrel and Aversa were able to summon them, what's to say there aren't many more people that can do that? No. Things are only going to get worse," he reasoned.

 _Does she not understand? Losing her would be like killing myself and then living with the choice._ They weren't lovers. As far as he knew he had never _known_ a woman. They barely expressed physical or emotional intimacy. She barely even slept in the same bed as him anymore. His nights were cold. Despite all of this he couldn't help himself.

He ached that he couldn't express how he felt about her the way Bantu said she wanted. _Maybe I should. No. Not now._ He wanted to, but she was making him angry at the moment. Also he couldn't move all that well.

"You have people that care about you Robin. Please."

He would have crossed his arms over his chest if they weren't being used to hold him at eye level with her.

"I don't even know if we're talking about the same thing anymore. I am _fine._ I feel good. Like you said I'm not injured. That fact that I used too much magic just means I need to put more work into training. We have time. Months before we sail to Valm.

"You _know_ that's not how it works Robin. There's a reason not just anyone can become a mage, you are born with a flow of magic or you're not. You can't get stronger. Maybe more skillful, but you hardly need that."

"Like hell I do. I have a responsibility to this army."

" _hhheell_ yeah you do. You're the battlefield tactition. Before even a simple soldier in service to Ylisse, you are a leader. This isn't just the shepherds anymore Robin," she said, growling his name.

"What does me being a tactician have to do with this?" he said.

"It has everything to do with this. You need to set an example," she was grasping at straws, "you can't have an emotional outburst everytime I get injured. This is war, as you so mentioned. I'm going to get injured. You're going to get injured. Chrom is going to get injured. It's not something you can avoid when fighting so much. She was getting up in his face.

He was getting tired of the circular argument they were having. He didn't want to have an outburst of anger at her. And he was fast getting there. His blood was boiling and he couldn't stand to meet her challenge.

"I'm going to sleep," He said.

"Robin don't- Fucking- ugh. Whatever. Sleep. You're better off in camp, you can't use one of your arms. You shouldn't be fighting anymore."

He laid himself down and ignored her, turning away from the door.


	22. Screeches In The Night

Carrion isle was a dreadful place. Home to an absolutely bloody history. The crows still remembered the feast of the long battles past and made the island their home. Thinking about the cloudy eerie atmosphere was hardly the first thing on his mind. In fact it was probably one of the last things on his mind.

He was still reeling from the revelation that King Validar, a man he had killed himself, had given him. A twin? Some kind of doppelganger? A man also named Robin who looked exactly like him, right down to that scar on his left cheek bone. Dark magic? He had asked Tharja and she didn't know. If someone who had achieved mastery of the darker arts couldn't give him an answer then he was likely to never receive one.

He had many questions. Too many questions. They swirled in his mind, a hazy cloud of nothing with no answers. Contemplation could only get him so far and he had no one to confide in. He was alone, a half mile from the camp where nobody would talk to him.

She was ignoring him. More than a week after their argument, or fight, or whatever it was that they had done. As soon as he entered a tent or building she was in, she walked out. She had gone so far as to opt out of the mission to receive support from Validar. She never avoided a mission. The last time he had to think about a battle without her there had been before she had joined the shepherds.

Chrom was far too indisposed to sit down and let him talk his ear off. The exalt had far too much going on. It made Robin envious. If only he had so much work to do that he couldn't even think about his own problems. Things would be far simpler.

"Robin…" a sudden pain spiked through his head, "Robin… heed to my call."

 _What? Who?_

"Why do you close your heart to the lord Robin? Do you truly remember nothing my son?"

"What? Who goes there," he shouted, still clutching his head, "show yourself."

Validar appeared before him. Not physically, but as a bleary image made of shadows and fear. His eyes were red and glowing, and his hair waved in the air, as if a strong wind was pushing it around. The man turned like thick miasma to face him directly, staring into his very soul with those red eyes.

"Validar?" Robin said, through the clutching pain in his head.

He shriveled down, looking much smaller than he actually was as he held onto both sides of his head. He shook himself back and forth, urging the vision away.

The dark king leaned forward, his proximity brought Robin to his knees.

"Do you really remember nothing?"

"Why are you here? Get out of my mind," he groaned.

"Foolish, arrogant child. How _dare_ you take that tone with your very own father?"

Validar struck him, forcing Robin onto his side.

Robin could barely see through the pain and after such a blow, "What?"

"Sacred flesh, and sacred blood. You were born of me with such a glorious purpose… why- you will come to know it in time. Search your heart and know your magnificent future," the shade said, "Why do you waste your time here son? Serving the foolish slaves of Naga. Turn your back to their doomed future, and join with Grima, as you are destined."

"Robin! What's going on here I heard shouting," Chrom came into the picture, and suddenly the painful presence was gone.

Robin rolled over, and used his good arm to lift himself up to his knees. From there he forced himself to a standing position, if a little slouched.

"There was a… I'm fine." He said.

"Fine my arse Robin. What happened?"

"I-it was the king. Validar. He came to me like an apparition. He said. Chrom he said. That… I am his son."

"What?" Chrom took a step back, "Is that true."

"I don't know Chrom. I don't know…" he took a moment to breath a few times, "I cannot lie though. I felt a sort of, strange, I think? Connection with him."

"Gods Robin. And the hierophant. Could you possibly have a twin?" Chrom asked.

"I don't know. I can't remember, Chrom. You know that."

"I know that, but remember this. You are yourself Robin. Your own man, before you are the son of anyone else," he rested a hand on Robin's shoulder, "Can you walk?"

"Thank you. Yes I think I can walk."

He took a few shaky steps, which grew in strength with each repeated movement.

"Are you sure, Robin," Chrom asked.

"I will be fine," Robin said. He shoved his hands into his pockets and made a tight fist with his left to stop the shaking.

It was at that moment that Frederick appeared from the shadows of a tree. It seemed like he was always nearby, though Robin knew that couldn't be possible.

"Milord Chrom, we are under attack from all sides. Surrounded by Risen," the gray knight warned.

"Rally the shepherds then," Chrom commanded, "We'll have no choice but to fight our way out." He drew Falchion from its scabbard.

Robin pulled a tome from his coat. He couldn't properly flip through the pages as he was, but even holding it gave him some measure of control over his magic.

"Don't put that tome away Robin, but you won't be fighting until I have one of our healers take a look at you."

"What makes you think some healing magic is going to do for the state of my mind?" Robin asked.

"I don't know, but you are also in physical pain, and that's something that can be looked at," Chrom said.

Falchion lit up blue in the dark. The halo in its center shining brightly like a star.

"That's not good is it?" Robin asked.

"No Robin, it isn't. Another one of those portals opened. I did some research and it's supposed to be linked to certain types of dark magic. The Grimleal are definitely involved."

It wasn't something they didn't know. Robin originally suspected as much after seeing dark mages for the first time, but in the invasion to save Emmeryn it had been confirmed. The dark mage Aversa summoned Risen, and it wasn't against good thinking to assume that other powerful dark mages could do the same.

"Let's get with the rest of the group then," Robin said.

"I warn you it isn't pretty," Frederick said, "much of the camp is on fire from the attack."

Robin started sprinting, pounding up the hill after Chrom, who was already halfway up.

"Casualties?"

"None to speak of since I left, minor injuries, mostly Vaike."

 _Of course._

Robin chose to save his breathe and not respond.

The site that greeted him at the crest of the hill was not a happy one. The Risen where in among the shepherds, wreaking havoc as they tried to organize and push back. There were indeed several fires. The worst part was the lack of mounted units.

The term "surrounded" barely began to describe what had happened while he was away. It would be better to describe it like a wave of water. The risen crashed through the camp and made everything wet. It was not "surrounded," it was chaos.

Chrom was rushing down to hill to join the fray and organize his shepherds. He held Falchion aloft glowing in the darkening night.

Robin didn't stop long to admire the view, but instead took a deep breath and launched down that hill after Chrom, and now Frederick, who was catching up to his liege. Ever the man of superior fitness.

* * *

 _Alright let's find Lissa. Not much I can do if I accidently run into a few risen along the way and happen to organize the shepherds too._

Robin took aim with his dead hand, and fired a bolt of lightning striking through a risen in his way. The yellow ball of light completely disintegrating the evil creature.

Ah there was Sumia.

"Hey Sumia!" he called, grabbing her attention, "Get with the group. Chrom's that way." Robin pointed in the general direction that Chrom had ran off to.

In all honesty he had probably separated with Frederick in order to find Sumia anyway.

"I'm protecting the healer's tent right now," she called back.

Robin ran up.

 _Well no time to organize the shepherds, but good all the same._

"No time for things like that. We need to get out of the valley and into a favorable position. Whatever. Keep guarding the tent for a moment though. I need to speak with Lissa. Then we'll get out of here and meet with the group."

Robin pushed through the flaps as he heard Sumia's affirmative

"Robin did you get injured?" Lissa asked.

"Something like that. Chrom wants me to be checked out before I get to the fighting… you have anything for head pain?"

"Well I have some herbs for head pain, but if it isn't debilitating, then we can save it until everyone is safe," Lissa answered.

Robin smiled, "just what I wanted to hear. Alright I assume Maribelle and Libra are afield right now? We need to get out of this valley. Grab a staff and come along."

He waited for her to prepare before rushing out of the tent.

"Alright Sumia you take the rear. We're escorting your sister-in-law to the exalt."

"As you say Robin," she replied. Sumia hefted her spear up and rested it on her shoulder for a moment, "What are the plans?"

"I tell you when we have everybody, but something like a retreat."

"Alright do we have everybody?" Robin shouted.

He began counting heads as a chorus of affirmatives rang out even as they slew the undead creatures around them. Now that they were organized into a group, keeping the Risen wat bay was a rather simple task. They were mostly mindless and broke against a proper battle line.

"We're getting out of here for now. We'll come back later. This is a fighting retreat. There's a dam a ways down the valley with a staircase leading up to the bridge. We can form a turtle formation there as a choke point for the Risen."

"Funtastic speech there Robbino," the white haired mage said.

"Well, _Henry_ I'm used to it. You'd better be telling the truth about this dam though." Robin said.

This mage was getting on his nerves already. A Plegian mage to be specific. He wore clothes similar to the ones Tharja wore, signifying his desert origins. He would have to ask her about him after the battle. Henry was talented with magic, which made Robin think she might know about him.

"I'm sure as a shrew. The crows told me. I do like the crows nyaha." Henry laughed.

"Yes I saw earlier, you had a whole flock." Robin pinched the bridge of his nose, "Go join with the rest of mages, and follow their lead, look for Miriel. She'll instruct you in formation for the time being. Straight reddish hair, glasses, slight frame."

"Sounds good man, when do we get to the killing?"

"This is a fighting retreat, you'll probably be covering the back lines, so as soon as we start moving."

"Okay I'll see you later," Henry walked off, "I wonder if Risen bleed if you hit them hard enough?" he cackled.

* * *

"Alright get moving! Vanguard start pushing forward. We're going to be moving fast. Stay in front of the back lines."

Everyone was already exhausted. The Pegasus knights where now mounted, but stayed in line with the rest of the horsemen. Walking was considerably easier than flying for the poor weary creatures.

The fighting was literally an uphill battle. The slope wasn't steep but it was noticeable, and Robin was sure his thighs and calves weren't the only ones starting to burn.

It was night but he no longer had difficulty seeing. His manakete eyes mixed with the fire and lighting kept everything bright. Intensely so. He would forever count himself lucky for the large quantity of good mages he was blessed with. Enough of them that the fire never had to stop flying, and even though he had defensive lines on all sides, the sheer offensive power kept the near mindless creatures at bay.

Robin fingered his Dragonstone, rolling it around in his palm. It was beginning to become a habit. One he didn't intend to stop. Simply being near the gem seemed to bring him some large measure of ease. He wondered if other manaketies felt the same about their stones.

Gods but he wished he could be along with the mages, physically helping them combat the Risen, but he could hardly turn the pages of his tome and hold it at the same time. It did not lend itself well to being able to cast magic at a longer distance.

Robin put his Dragonstone back in the secret pocket, and massaged his right forearm. It got worse after he transformed again. Almost like the source of his ill-fated injury was the draconic magic flowing through his veins like blood.

 _Focus Robin. The battle._

Someone shoved him forward.

"Keep up man-spawn. Now is not the time to be slow."

Robin turned his head to give her a nod of acknowledgment, and quickened his pace.

The dam was becoming more distinct with every flash of fire, and he could see the stairs climbing the tall dam on the side.

 _Thank Naga. We're almost there._

As he had planned everyone lined up forming to lines, with Kellam and the point. If you ever saw the man without his armor on you wouldn't think too much of him, but he really was probably second in physical might. Dwarfed only by Frederick.

Kellam simply put his shield up and started marching up step by step, and the Risen where thrown off the stairs. At first they simple got back up and attacked the back line waiting to get on the stairs, but soon the shepherds were high enough, that Kellam's shoving sent them falling to their deaths.

From behind Kellam's spear, Robin had organized Sully and Stahl into a cramped pair. There was just barely enough room for them to maneuver their spears back and forth to stab at the Risen crashing against Kellam. They also offered the armored man leverage. It wouldn't due to have him fall backwards and knock the shepherds off.

"We're almost there shepherds. Keep it up," Chrom called out. He was marching next to Vaike.

In any other situation, Robin might have poked a jest at them for holding hands, but he couldn't begrudge them better balance when he had his fingers interlocked with Lon'Qu's. The man's glove was rough against Robin's bare skinned hand.

It felt truly strange to be in the middle of the battle, literally, yet not be doing anything. It made him anxious of his powerlessness. It also reminded him of why he was Ylisse's battlefield tactician, and not sitting in the war room all day pushing wooden figurines around all day, or organizing the supplies.

Of course he organized the shepherds' supplies, but merely looked over the list for the standing army. Most of the time anyway. He didn't really trust the other tacticians and quartermasters employed by the Halidom, and checked over the supply information a little bit excessively.

The Risen where fewer at the top of the staircase, but the hoard was growing as the creatures figured out where they all were. They were also clumping up at the bottom of the staircase, pushing and shoving each other trying to get to the shepherds at the back of the line.

Robin couldn't even hear the sounds of their moans and groans over the roaring of the fireballs cascading down into the hoard. Even Virion was firing his bow as they stopped and Kellam shoved another Risen out of the way. Every shot was a hit, and a kill. Even as he fired into the masses below, and didn't even need to aim to hit something, he still made the effort to make a one shot kill.

Virion was, as ever, very prudent with his aim, or rather, anything that came with being an archer. The man could boast all he wanted about his skills in the arts of arrow shooting because it was all true.

After watching the performance of the sherpherds' mages, Robin wasn't sure they would even need to keep the defensive position on the bridge for long. Magic was especially deadly in large crowds of targets.

"Gods what is that?" someone shouted.

There was pointing from several of the shepherds.

Up on top of the bridge was a massive creature. It was a Risen, wreathed in purple smoke with glowing red eyes. It was tall, and more than tall, it was oozing a black purple liquid from every orifice, giving of the purple smoke.

At the tips of its arms, instead of hands it had claws, long, terrifying each was like a single bladed knife, and even from such a distance Robin could tell that the creature was capable of separating bone from flesh.

"No good," he shouted, "We have to deal with that thing before we stake out on the bridge. Don't get hit by those claws they look like they'll shred anything, even armor."

"Claws?" Long'Qu asked.

"You'll see when we get closer."

Robin had thought it was tall, but as they grew nearer he saw it far clearer than before. It was twice the height of a human, and gangly as a teenage boy who just hit his growth spurt. It was a patchwork of skin. It looked as if someone took great pains to sew the creature together into the monstrosity it was.

It let out a wail as they grew close. A piercing shriek which broke his eardrums. Panne doubled over behind him, nothing she could do to plug her large ears. He felt something warm, and grew dizzy.

Robin lifted his hand to his left ear, and felt blood, and a second later realized the pain. His vision blurred from the pain, but he fought to remain conscious. The world was spinning, but everyone else seemed to be fine.

"Spears first," He said, "keep your distance from the arms," he could barely hear himself speak.

He took a knee and waited for the spinning to stop.

The creature didn't shriek again, but let out a roar, loud enough to pierce through the veil and reach his ears. Then is charged, or slithered, or something.

* * *

Frederick took point, followed by Sully and Stahl. They all bore spears, and a shield for unmounted combat.

"As Robin said. Avoid those claws, force glancing blows, and keep your shields up. Use the spears when you can. Don't die." Frederick said.

"Hah! Just how l like it Freddy. Watch out or I might take the kill" Sully boasted.

Frederick looked up and saw that the Pegasus Knights where in the air for the first time during the battle, yet they didn't look to be in control of their mounts. The creatures appeared to be panicking, and the girls were trying to calm them down.

Even Cherche's wyvern was in the air flying erratically. It let out a roar and bucked around, though Frederick wasn't entirely sure how it was bucking while in midair. He was worried for her. Though he didn't know why. Seeing her up in the sky like that made him anxious.

The Risen lashed out at him, sensing his momentary distraction.

Frederick barely got his shield up in time to attempt to deflect the blow, but the claws went right through the steel and wood. They pierced it even at the odd angle that they struck. He could only thank Naga that the creature had missed his arm, which was strapped on the inside.

Now he effectively had the Risen grappled to some degree, so he twisted, and pulled the massive creature with him.

"Get it now. I Have it stuck!" he commanded his comrades

The massive Risen began flailing, trying to hit either Sully or Stahl as they came from both sides and stabbed into it with their spears.

Sully let out a loud war cry, and twisted her lance around, further widening the hole in the creature's leathery skin. The purple ooze flowed out of the large wound sizzling. Sully pulled her lance away.

"Damn it. Fuck! Damn it." she exclaimed.

Frederick immediately knew why she was cursing. The tip of her spear, and the bit of the shaft that was inside the risen didn't come back out, or rather, it didn't exist anymore. The ooze which was the "blood" of the Risen had eaten the spear.

"Gods." Stahl shouted, "We need to be careful with attacking it. It'll destroy our weapons."

But there was no need for warning. The two large holes didn't heal like a normal Risen, and the massive creature started to deflate in front of them as the life flowed out of it. Risen started struggling, and in its frantic movement, ripped itself free of Frederick's shield, destroying it in the process. Another swipe from its claws opened Stahl's arm.

"Get back! Both of you. Keep away from it." Frederick said.

The three of them backed up quickly, and Stahl growled, clutching at his injured arm, but he couldn't put any pressure on the wound through his armor.

"Stahl get that armor off and go see a healer. Send someone else forward we need more people around this thing in case it gets back up."

The thrashing didn't stop, and indeed the creature, in its death throes, seemed only to grow more desperate for life. It was something akin to a ferocious wounded animal, and looked nothing like the habits of a normal Risen, which would keep fighting no matter the wound or loss of limb.

Kellam and Gaius came rushing in to replace Stahl.

"Gods what _is_ that thing?" Gaius asked.

"I would tell you if I knew, but this is something I've never seen. There have been no reports of Risen like this," Frederick said.

Gaius pulled another lollipop from his pocket and began slurping on two at once, readying his sword in case the thrashing creature made a go at them, but it didn't. The Risen didn't seem to have any interest in them whatsoever now.

"Be on your guard. Until the Risen disappears we can't be sure of its death."

The problem was that it didn't disappear in a puff of smoke like a normal risen. Its baggy body deflated like a waterskin being poured out. The pile of corrosive sludge was completely out of the body, and the Risen no longer moved. It no longer looked like a living thing, but more like an empty sack of potatoes.

Deflated. The only thing inside the body was the sludgy ooze.

"Well hell. Is the thing dead?" Sully asked

"I might assume so, if I were an assuming man," Gaius said, "What do you think Daddy?"

"Please Gaius. I've told you to stop calling me that," Frederick said, glaring at the sugary thief.

"Sorry, sorry." Gaius shrugged.

"I will keep a watch on it for some time to be safe." Frederick said.

* * *

"The Risen have disappeared!" Chrom shouted.

In truth there was no other better explanation for what had happened. As soon as Frederick, Stahl, and Sully had killed the creature, all of the Risen had exploded into a puff a smoke.

"Fascinating," Miriel said, "What an anomaly."

"Indeed," Chrom responded.

Chrom watched as Miriel adjusted her glasses. She seemed like she had wanted to ask him something, but instead she simply walked away. He would have shrugged had he been anywhere near something to express his confusion with.

"Frederick," Chrom called.

The knight left his spot beside the corrosive corpse of the Risen, and whistled for someone to take his place watching it. everyone seemed reluctant to get too close to the body, and Chrom didn't blame them, but it had yet to disappear like a Risen should.

"What can I do for you my lord?" Frederick asked. He stood at attention, appearing as fresh as he always did after his morning jog.

"Organize some patrols. Scout out the valley before we return. While you're at it, take the knights and retrieve the horses. Also, have Robin sent over here after he's done with Lissa. We'll need to discuss some things."

As you say milord.

Frederick jogged off, gathering shepherds as he went. The small crowd of uninjured men and women gathered around him and he began to organize them into balanced teams for scouting the valley.

Perhaps it was a slight mishap on Frederick's part, but he left the dead body unguarded, even after he was so keen on watching over it. He wasn't "the Wary" for nothing.

Chrom payed it no mind, the creature was dead. As long as everyone stayed clear of it's clearly corrosive innards it would be fine.

Or rather, as long as _he_ stayed away from it. Everyone else was now on patrol except a few people by the lake to guard the healers while they tended to the injured. Robin, Nowi, and Panne all suffered injuries to their inner ears, and for the life of him, he couldn't figure out why. Perhaps he would learn the reason once Robin came to talk to him.

Chrom looked out over the valley, and admired the view as dawn broke. It was something he always enjoyed. He used to watch the sunrise on the weekends with Emm and Lissa. It was one of her favorite things about the world.

Suddenly there was a searing pain in his left ankle. It caused a crazed reaction in him, and he leapt backwards and fell over in surprise. The Risen from before was slithering along the ground like a slug, yet more amorphous.

Chrom scrambled back, trying to make some distance between himself and the creature.

Suddenly, as if from nowhere, a woman appeared.

"Father NO!" she cried as she thrust her sword into the beast.

It didn't make a vocal sound, but sizzled and puffed into smoke.

"Marth?"

* * *

"You sure you want to come along with me? Chrom only asked for me."

"I'm sure Robin. I haven't seen my husband much all night long. I want to see how he is doing." Sumia said.

"I understand, but please speak a bit more quietly, my ears are sensitive right now," Robin said.

"Sorry," She whispered.

"You don't need to be that quiet."

"Is this better?"

"Perfect. Thank you. Let's go see Chrom. He's on the dam." Robin set off, "Thank you Lissa, I'll call you over if anything happens," he called back. The two of them walked around the lakeside, and encountered a rather… peculiar sight, to say the least.

There he was, embracing Marth. Intimately. She was pressed up against him, and crying, while he held her close, gently petting her head.

"What's he doing?" Robin whispered to himself.

He looked over at Sumia.

"Sumia, um, where did you get those flowers?" he asked.

She was systematically tearing the flowers apart. One petal at a time. Then she dug her he finger nail into the stem and began to peel the poor plant to pieces.

"He loves… he doesn't… oh gods. Does he not love me anymore."

"Sumia," Robin whispered, "I'm sure there's a perfectly good explanation for this now. Stay here a minute. I'll go see what's going on."

She wasn't paying any attention.

Robin sighed, and decided on the loud and proud route.

He marched up to the couple.

Chrom saw him first, and his face lit up like the sun.

"Robin come here a moment. I want you to meet-"

"Marth. I know. Chrom what are you doing. It doesn't exactly look like a faithful husband to me." Robin crossed his arms, and gave his best frown.

Marth opened her eyes, and immediately detached herself from Chrom. She was blushing, honest to gods blushing.

"Wait Sir Robin I assure you that this is not what-"

"Uh huh." Robin cut her off, "What's the explanation Chrom?"

Robin pointed up at Sumia.

Chrom looked over to Marth, "Can we tell her Lucina?"

Marth nodded, "The secret's out now, so she deserves to know."

"Lucina? The name of your daughter? Gods Chrom, what level have you sunken to?"

Chrom ignored him and pulled Marth by the hand towards Sumia.

 _Everything you're doing right now doesn't help your case Chrom._

"Sumia, hey Sumia," Chrom put a hand on Sumia's shoulder.

"What? I wasn't spying on you. You can't prove anyth- oh gods you brought _her…"_

"Sumia," Chrom comforted her. He grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips.

She pulled away from his touch, and glared sadly at him.

"Sumia please. Listen. I need you to meet someone."

Sumia looked over at Marth, and _glared._ Honest to gods _glared._ Robin had never seen that look on her face before, and he had known her for something bordering three years.

"Sumia, dear. This is… she is… meet our daughter. Lucina."

"What?" she shouted.

* * *

 **A/N: Apologies to my readers. It has just come to my attention, if that tells you how much attention I pay, that the scene/time/POV shifts have not been smooth on account of FFN deleting the symbols I use to show changes in scene. I'll do my best to fix this issue in the future, and thank you all for your patience!**


	23. Dueling With Sully

Lucina acclimated just about as well into the shepherds as someone in her position could. Everyone was confused by her sudden reveal, though they were no less welcoming than if a total stranger had just joined the shepherds like Henry. In fact, she got all the same treatment Robin originally got, but with thrice the number of people participating, and without the friendly hazing.

Nobody dared to treat the daughter of the exalt, and a woman of high caliber, like a completely ordinary recruit. Now Henry on the other hand… Naga have mercy on his soul. His status as a Plegian mage did not help his case in this, and the pranks kept coming, yet he just kept laughing and gave pointers on the pranks.

What a man. His astonishing patience surprised Robin. He looked like the kind of man who might break under such pressure, but his attitude reminded Robin not to judge a man by his first impression.

As a matter of fact, it was the first time he joined in on such a hazing ritual. Partially because his first conversation with Henry had been annoying, partially because Lissa pressured him into it, and most importantly, he was bored. There was still at least a month, if not more, before the ships were ready, the soldiers prepared, and the goods packed.

Ferox and Ylisse were trying to muster at least a hundred thousand men and women for the war. More would be better. Walhart was rumored to have a million soldiers at his command. He truly would conquer the world if nobody put a stop to him. So as far as numbers matter, Robin didn't think they would ever be able to gather that many soldiers without a serious conscription policy, _and_ bodies from Plegia.

Having mages from Plegia would be nice, but at least the Halidom had a sizeable population of willing mages. Along with that, many Feroxi mercenaries where very nationalistic, and added a number of magic users to the ranks, though less talented than most of the college trained mages of Ylisse. Of course there were a few exceptions.

Robin himself was an exception. As far as his memory dated, he had never seriously schooled to learn his magic, though at one point he must certainly have had to. When he was younger. Before his memory loss.

Now, a week after Lucina appeared, she left, but not alone. She went with a small contingent of shepherds to her camp. She'd spent the last three years finding the others who came back in time with her, and subtly changing world events, perhaps in ways that people of his world would never know. Of course there were major events she helped to change, like Emmeryn's assassination, and Chrom's permanent injury to assassins.

It made him think about how much of his life was dictated by Lucina changing things around. He should ask her about his memory loss when she gets back with the others from the future. They were apparently camped somewhere deeper into Regna Ferox. He would have liked to go, but he had business in port Ferox two businesses to be exact. Chrom went with Lucina, and left him with all the work.

He couldn't blame the exalt this time. His daughter just came from the future, and told him all about the terrible experiences she had. He wanted to dote on her as much as possible, and Robin couldn't curse Lucina away from that experience.

First order of business, organize- or help organize- the preparation for the campaign. Not much to do about that, just some daily progress checks. Who is where? How many people have shown up? Arrange compensation for families. Do we have enough wine? Enough beer? Enough bread? Enough grain to make bread? Etcetera.

Instead of suffering through it all himself like he usually did, Robin decided to hire Anna to assist. He hoped it was his Anna. She seemed to act familiar with him. But, hospitality was an Anna special.

Either way, Anna was now employed by the crown to find armor, spears, swords, axes, arrows- all manner of battle equipment. Most specifically arrows. Many of the soldiers already had at least a sword for self-defense. Especially the Feroxi ones, but the army would need more arrows than the population of Regna Ferox. They would likely have to resupply themselves off of the armies that they defeated.

Second order of business: Find Nowi and make up with her.

She was avoiding him, and not hiding it. When he managed to find her she would turn her head, and with a harrumph, walk in the opposite direction. For the life of him he couldn't figure out why she was mad at him for doing his duty.

He couldn't in his right mind, send the shepherds to die in battle if he wasn't, at least, willing to be at the front. Especially not now. It was expected of him. He would change his orders mid battle, and the best way to do that fast and efficiently was to be right in the thick of things. From there he could feel the flow of battle, rather than observe it.

He could experience the morale of the enemy. He could observe the morale of his own troops too. In reality the only negative from working from the front like that was his proximity to danger, but he trusted his men to shield him as he shielded them.

Ah there she was. Walking out of a bar with Sumia and Sully was Nowi. She was happily chatting with them, up until he walked up. She looked away, and he could tell she was angry, but she couldn't run from him when Sumia and Sully were right there next to her.

Sumia and Sully exchanged looks. They both new about the fight Robin and Nowi had.

"Nowi there you are," Robin said, "I've been looking for you."

"I haven't much to day to you right now Robin." She crossed her arms, and looked up at him. Right in the eyes.

He hadn't seen her eyes in weeks. Not directly. Inhuman eyes they were. Purple in color, pupils like a cat's. Beautiful, and angry.

They weren't officially wed, nor engaged, yet he longed to be in her company.

"Look, I know you don't-"

"Beat Sully in a duel. Spar with her. Win, and I might redact what I've said," Nowi leered.

 _So she doesn't trust my skill in combat then? Is that the problem? I'm perfectly capable of winning against almost anyone._

"No Magic," Nowi added.

 _Oh._

Sully cracked her knuckles and grinned, "Ha. I don't think we've had a good fight in a while. Prepare to have your ass pounded in _Robby._ "

 _No magic then?_

"How about just swords then. Wooden training swords," Robin proposed.

"Think you can beat me with your weapon of choice eh? I'm not a damn slouch with a sword Robin, but I'll let ya have it. Sword versus sword. Meet me in the training yard, I'll be there in a minute!"

Sully ran off before he could say anything or stop her.

"Oh my," Sumia said, chuckling, "She's sure excited. Well I guess Stahl _is_ off on that mission with Chrom."

* * *

"Alright, any more additional rules you want to add little man?"

"Nothing comes to mind," Robin responded.

"Ready your sword then," Sully said, grinning.

Nowi and Sumia stood off to the side. Sumia was quite excited to see Sully in such a mood, but Nowi looked on, observing silently. Robin really couldn't understand what was going on in her mind, when he used to think he knew her quite well.

Just a while ago they were traveling together, enjoying life. He had been trying to figure out how to properly court her according to rules set by both Human and Manakete customs. There wasn't any compromise. The rituals were too dissimilar, but that didn't stop him.

Robin raised his training sword, held in his left hand, and crossed it with Sully's. Then they each took three steps back, and faced each other, swords pointed forward and ready.

Robin immediately began to analyze the situation. He knew a lot about Sully, and how she fought, but she could say the same thing to him. She, like many of the shepherds, was a genius of combat. The shepherds were known for their member's prowess in combat.

Like he predicted, she made the first move. Ever was she impatient to get to the fun part. A joyful gleam in her eye. She was confident. He was at a disadvantage. He was using his off hand, he couldn't add and force using his other hand. She could power through his one-armed blows.

Or so she thought.

Robin smiled. He had been practicing. Practicing fighting, that is.

He slammed his sword against hers, and immediately lashed out with his boot, catching her in the shin. Maybe a dirty move, but this was battle. The goal was to win, and he would. He would prove to Nowi that he could handle himself.

Sully glared at him as she hissed her pain away through gritted teeth. His adrenaline flowed and he smiled.

He took a swing of his own, and aimed right for her temple. Sully reacted almost instantly. Almost panicky. She lifted her sword up, and used her other hand as leverage to stop his blow.

Sumia gasped somewhere, but he paid it no mind.

"What are ya doing asshole?" Sully yelled.

"Fighting," Robin grinned at her, and laughed, lashing out with another kick.

But she was ready for it this time, and slipped out of the way.

He chased after her as she back stepped, putting on the pressure. He swung again. And then swung again, and left no room open for her to retaliate. He was forcing her into a corner just one good blow to win.

Another kick. Another swing. Sully was no longer concerned with attacking him. It was all she could do to keep him from breaking bones.

"Robin stop!" Sumia shouted.

He didn't stop. Another swing. He was going to win. The clacking sound of the swords beating together was flashy, but it was fading. The only thing that mattered was the panic. The fear. Sully was trying to escape, but if she turned around to run, he would strike her down.

One more hit. He took one more swing and she blocked again, but her sword didn't hold up. The way she was using it to block his blows meant it split nearly in half. He saw his opportunity and took it. No weapon. One blow to the head would do it.

He launched forward. No pain. He forgot about his worthless right arm. It didn't matter. But swinging his sword matter. Her fear. He was going to win.

Sully put her arms up to block and protect her head, and he shattered he right arm. She recoiled with a shout of pain. Nothing to stop him now, she was out of options, and left herself open.

Suddenly he was upside down. A tremendous pressure forcing itself onto his chest. He felt a few ribs crack but he couldn't feel the pain. He smiled up at the dragon.

"I won," he said.

Nowi did not release him from her hold.

"I know you're happy, you couldn't wait to be with me again right, but I know how dragons are. Pride is weakness even I suffer from after all," he laughed.

Robin put _both hands up_ and grabbed ahold of her leg forcing him down. Almost instantly she weakened and reverted, a look of evident surprise on her face. Now he was in control, and he flipped her over, now holding her down by both her arms.

"I know you've been patient. Waiting for this. Bantu explained a little something about manakete courting. Public displays was it?"

"Robin?" Nowi asked.

"Well. What better display than this," he growled.

He took his right hand off from her arm, and she immediately punched him in the mouth. He ignored her, and reached for the knife in his boot. He secured it, and held it up for her to see.

He saw the fear in her eyes. He knew. Knives and her. Not a great relationship. He loved it.

She continued to beat on him, but the smile never left his face, and in fact, even as he forced him to bit his tongue, he smiled a bloody smile, dripping down over her face.

He brought the knife up close, near her throat. He lingered there before reversing directions and plunging the knife down. It cut through her cotton shirt, exposing her modesty for all to see.

What lovely scars she had! All over her body. He knew. He practically felt the betrayal himself. His bloody smile grew wider, and he leaned down, bringing his lips closer to hers.

"Robin!" Nowi practically shouted. Then accompanied that with a head-butt, her forehead to his nose, and his nose bent sideways.

It wouldn't have stopped. It didn't stop him, or at least he tried to not let it stop him. He didn't feel that pain, but he felt the warmth on his hands. Blood, spilling out. His knife was facing up, and the physical jolt from the head-butt was enough to make him send his own knife through himself.

There was no pain. But weakness. He weakened, and look back up at Nowi, the look of fear, desperation… concern. Why did it bring him joy? Why had it brought him joy? He looked at that expression now, and it sickened him.

Her eyes softened.

He felt the tears coming, "I'm sorry Nowi."

He fell on top of her, soaking them both in his blood.

* * *

 **A/N: Dear lord what have I done? What did Robin turn into when I was sleeping? Alas. I am sorry. It wasn't supposed to be this way.**

 **I've posted two chapters rather close together, so if you missed it, go back and read chapter 22. Don't want any confusion now.**


	24. Guilty Feelings, and Blossoming Emotions

"Hey he's awake."

Robin opened his eyes to see Lissa leaning over him.

"Man this is what? The third time? Fourth time? You keep mortally injuring yourself in dumb ways, and I always end up treating you," Lissa said, "You sure you aren't developing some kind of fixation on extreme pain?"

Robin chose not to speak. Instead he waited for her to continue.

"Man not in the mood to talk? Sit up at least. You need to eat something, gut wounds are expensive to heal."

Robin sat up, and out of nowhere, a fist came flying, and all was darkness again.

* * *

"But you can't just punch him like that! Save the antics for after he's healed," Lissa said.

"Jerk-wad needs to be put in his place. Broke my arm."

Ah they were talking about him still. Damn. Being healed didn't mean it didn't hurt. The pain still existed. In his ribcage where Nowi crushed him, and more importantly in his stomach, where the major wound had been.

Robin reached down with his left hand, and pulled his shirt up to look. Lots of bruising where his ribs were, but his stomach injury was the soft pink color of scar tissue.

 _So it really did happen then._

Hot shame ran its course, forcing a deep blush to mask his face. How was he supposed to face her now?

"Boy you really did a number on yourself this time Robin," Lissa said, "Nearly killed yourself, _and_ p-ed off Sully. I'd say that's a new record," she snickered.

Lissa was always good at trying to lighten the mood. Unfortunately for her though, it wouldn't be working this time. He was practically ignoring her.

His jaw was sore where Sully punched him. He had heard about her mean right hook, but to experience it himself.

Robin lifted a hand up and felt around his nose.

"Ah yeah. I did my best to set your nose back into place, but I think it might be a bit crooked still." Lissa said. "Nowhere near as bad as it was when they first brought you in though. It looks fine." She patted him on the shoulder.

Robin sat back up, and looked over at Sully, who sat spread-legged, and cross-armed. As yes they were keeping a watch on him now.

"Alright where was I hmm? Oh yeah, we got some oatmeal here for you. Once we get you something to eat I'll let you get out of here. You'll be tired, and probably still hungry, but you can get back into that paperwork you love so much." She laughed.

Robin didn't protest when she began to spoon feed him as if he couldn't do it himself. He may have lost the use of one arm- er did he? It didn't work now. He tried flexing it. Nope no response there. He could get his fingers to curl a little bit, but that was it.

Lissa spoke to him as she babies him, "Nowi wanted to talk to you after you woke up. Seemed kinda important. Have you two made up?"

Robin finally spoke, " _Does_ she want to talk to me?" he asked.

"That's what she said, at least. She told me she would be in town, around the center plaza. I've heard rumors of a pretty young girl playing with all the local children."

Well he _was_ going to go on a walk in town and clear his head, but now he thought better of it. Going back to his tent and getting right to work sounded about like the proper thing to do. No matter how long he was out, the paperwork was probably already starting to pile up again. Even leaving his desk for a few hours to eat and socialize would result in a small build-up of work.

"Thank you, Lissa," He said through a mouthful.

"Don't mention it. We're friends right?" She said.

"I hope so."

Robin finished his food. Eating the oatmeal the easy, thank Naga, because Sully's punch didn't make it easy on the jaw.

Robin stood up somewhat stiffly. He stretched out, and felt the aching all over his body. What little feeling he had in his lower right arm told him it was incredibly sore. Possibly unbearably so, if he could have felt it all.

The chill outside hit him rather hard. The tent was warm thanks to all of the candles to keep things light, but outside, the brisk Feroxi morning air greeted him.

 _Looks like she worked through the night to patch me up. Again._

Not many of the shepherds were up, out, and about the camp. They were near the middle of the tent city, having been on the move even as soldiers were amassing around the port. Robin preferred their previous camping spot. It was right up against the city walls. Now there was at least one thousand tents between him and the walls surrounding the port. Hard to tell from his angle, but if he rode a Pegasus up, he could probably count the length.

Luckily for him, he wasn't going to town. Instead Robin about faced and headed in the direction of his tent, which was right next door to the command tent for the whole entire army. A convenience for him. Sleep and work sat right next to each other.

This meant that documents and papers could be quickly delivered between him and the near constant war meetings going on whenever Chrom was awake and in the tent city.

Robin stepped up to the tent, pulled back the door flap, and- _oh gods._

Nowi was sitting right in his desk chair. She was picking at her nails while she waited for him, but looked up as soon as he entered.

He really, _really,_ didn't want the confrontation that was about to occur, so he chose the best strategy available to someone in his position.

Tactical Retreat.

Aye he turned around, and quickly, briskly, not running, but still quite fast; walked out right out of the tent, and made for town again.

"Robin," she called, "Come here. _Now."_ She sounded like a parent scolding a child after discovering they broke the rules.

But he didn't turn back. Escape was the option now, but like she would let him get away so easily.

She grabbed onto his hand with her own. Robin was half way out of the tent when she started tugging on him.

"Come back to the tent Robin. We need to talk about some things."

He pulled on her grip a little bit, testing her strength, before conceding.

He wasn't ready for the talk he knew was coming. He'd lost control of… something, whatever it was, and ruined their relationship.

He couldn't pull away, the strength in his right arm wasn't enough to escape her grip. Nervously he reached a hand into his hidden pocket, and found his Dragonstone there. Right where it was supposed to be.

She finally wrestled him into his own tent. She closed the flap, and turned to him.

 _Here it comes…_

"Robin… I-"

 _She hates me now._

"Damnit Robin don't give me that look. I'm not sure what's going on in your head right now, but it's wrong." Nowi quickly moved on him, and wrapped him in her embrace, "I Love you Robin. So much."

"What? Nowi-"

"Don't talk right now," she cut him off, gripping him tighter, "I waited a while for you to say something, or do something. You finally did, but it was violent, selfish, and you weren't yourself."

Nowi turned her head to press her other ear against his chest. She was so impossibly warm pressed against him.

"Robin do you know why all the manakete you normally hear about in the stories are so old?" You never hear about manaketies as young as you fighting in the wars and helping save the day. There's a reason. A really damn good reason why we don't send out young ones out to fight."

"What?" he said.

"Young manaketies have trouble controlling themselves. That's something you know, but it gets worse in battle. I didn't realize just how bad it was for you until I had Sully spar with you though. I knew you had trouble after the battle at port Ferox, but I don't think I did enough to stop you. No I definitely didn't do enough."

Robin bent down and returned Nowi's gesture.

"Chrom's the only who knows this Nowi, but it is highly likely that I am the son of Validar."

Nowi nodded against him, "Grimleal eh? Perhaps you were a failed attempt to make a dragon like Grima then. It would explain why you have special trouble controlling your battle lust against humans."

"Does that not bother you?"

"Robin… how recently have you cut your skin, soaked the soil with your blood, and prayed for Grima to take your soul?"

"I haven't" he said.

She hugged him tighter, "Then we have nothing to worry about."

"What about-"

"Just shut up and hug me. I've already explained to Sully and the others what happened. There are no grudges."

He held her tighter.

 _Naga. She loves me._

He could feel the stupid dopey grin plastering itself to his face as the last of his worries melted into her hug.

His worries were gone, but the guilt wasn't.

"Are you okay?" he asked her.

She cuddled closer if it was even possible, "About what? I'm fine."

She lied.

He could tell. He knew she wanted to deflect him further from the conversation, but after she had all but forced herself into a confession, he wasn't having it.

"You know what I mean. My memory is perfectly clear this time. Are you okay?"

"Robin I've seen you like that twice now. Do you know what it's like to look someone in the eyes, who is _enjoying_ the pain they inflict?"

"But _are you okay?"_ Robin pulled Nowi to the ground and sat with her there, "I had _a knife_ pressed up against you. I'm not sure if I hurt you physically, but I can only imagine how you _felt_ in that moment."

"Robin…"

He looked at her, directly in the eyes.

"Robin, it's terrifying. You scratched my collar bone, but that's fine. It's terrifying to see someone that you love so much in that state. Naga only knows what all you were getting ready to do, but I can only thank the mother of my tribe that somehow- _somehow_ you slipped and stabbed yourself."

"I can only be thankful that I didn't do anything… permanent," he growled.

His instincts told him to do those permanent things right then. Gods she would probably let him. He fought it back though. There was a time and place for such things, and the middle of the day, in his military issued tent which barely kept the rain out, was not it.

So he suppressed his urges, and instead, bent down and planted a kiss on her forehead.

* * *

The shepherds, ever sticking to tradition, built bonfire come night time. Though Chrom and his party were absent still, there was still plenty of shepherds to warrant their nightly celebration. That meant fire, food, and alcohol.

Robin sat down on a makeshift bench pilfered from the stores. He was sure the quartermaster wouldn't mind the missing timber. Sitting to his right was Nowi. She was now smiling happily, and positively clinging to him. The way she did so had several looks sent their way, and the silent ire of Maribelle, who was sipping on tea with Lissa.

The young noble woman could hardly stand such open displays. It was improper to subject others to the view.

Of course for Nowi, it was normal. It was a manakete thing, and she knew that the humans in the area thought them strange and perhaps a tad adulterous, and definitely improper, but it wouldn't stop her. Robin knew. She was making sure they all knew. Of course he enjoyed the close proximity, and she definitely did, but the purpose wasn't for the PDA. Manaketies were really territorial creatures.

As if any of the female shepherds would try something with him in the first place. As far as he knew most of them had already married, or were on their way to being so.

It was an odd thing to have to consider when he messed with the roster. Whom was married to whom. For example: Maribelle would definitely hate it if he paired Gaius up with another woman. She might have looked at his and Nowi's very physically close relationship with distain, but Robin was crass enough to believe Maribelle was worse than Nowi when it came to territorial displays- if it could even be called that.

She practically had a choke chain pulled around Gaius' neck. And they weren't even married. One of the few pairs who weren't. They _were_ engaged though. He really felt for the poor man. Of course he still managed to sneak out to the pubs when they all went drinking, but once he was married and shared her bed, there would be no more late night trysts.

Nowi caught Maribelle looking at them disapprovingly, and decided to act on it. She stood up, and seated her heavy little body in his lap while resting her legs where she had originally been seated. From there she stared directly at Maribelle and watched as she frowned.

She cuddled closer to Robin and look up at him, "It's a nice night by the fire isn't it?" she smiled.

 _Oh you're such a cheeky girl._

"Indeed it is."

He wondered how it had come to this. Just the other day he had manically held a knife at her throat, and now he was publicly closer to her than ever before, yet it did not feel awkward at all. She had used him as a pillow for far too long for this to feel too close for him.

Robin took a mouthful of the mead, but didn't manage to get any more as Nowi grabbed the mug from him. She chugged the whole rest of the mug down, and then used the collar of his shirt to wipe her mouth.

"Careful now. Too much more of that and I'll be carrying you back to your tent," He said.

Nowi strained up and whispered into his ear, "Our tent."

Now _that_ was a suggestion, but he didn't intend to do anything untoward with her for at least a little while. He would make sure to talk to her\ tête-à-tête. Not much he could say to her about it in public. That didn't stop his blush from forming at all though as she smiled lazily up at him.

She was waiting for a response from him. That was a ferocious façade she had up.

"Not tonight," he finally said. He'd rather not talk about such things in public.

She, however, seemed bent on getting him embarrassed, or perhaps jailed if the right people heard. She shifted her weight and Robin could feel the bones of her butt jutting into his thighs.

Nowi looked up at him and pouted. Then she wriggled and rolled her hips. She did a sufficient job of making him uncomfortable, if nothing else.

"Hey get a room!" Vaike shouted.

"Twould not do to be in the way of a young maiden in love now, sir Vaike," Virion reprimanded from across the fire.

"Hey. All I'm saying is that they should just go f-" Miriel slammed her tome down on Vaike's head.

The resounding THWACK sounded as if it could break bones. Lucky Vaike was to have such a hard head.

Virion looked as if he might continue, but looks from both Lissa and Maribelle silenced him with his mouth open.

It was time for her to get off.

Robin, gently as he could, pushed her to the side, and watched her pouting face all the way. As soon as he had her all the way off, and it should be stated that she did not help him, she slouched down and crossed her arms. It looked like she was about to throw a tantrum fit for a child.

Of course she was better than that. He hoped. She did have a bit of a reputation towards acting childish. Sometimes though, he thought she was far too mature for her own good. Of course living for a thousand years tended to levy some amount of life experience. Then again, living for a thousand years meant you could probably act however you wanted.

Olivia came around and handed them both a mug, while taking the empty one.

Just as quickly as she was there, she had already starting moving away.

"Thank you Olivia!" He called after her.

Nowi cradled her mug next to him. She looked a bit down. Genuinely so, not just playfully pouting.

"What's wrong?"

"I was really looking forward to tonight," she stated.

"We can talk about this later," he said, "We'll talk when we're away from the shepherds."

She leaned in, "Yes please. You _were_ the excited one were you not?"

"There's still and time and place for such things," he whispered back.

"The present is my favorite time."

"I'm sure you know I like planning ahead."

"Of course you do." she frowned.

She rested her head against his shoulder and took a deep breathe, "I Suppose I'll just take what I can get."

She sighed, content, and he felt as if that was just a perfect example of how his life was suddenly going.

Were people supposed to make up so easily after a fight? What about after you fix things? Was a shock confession the normal? Robin had thought all day on Nowi's confession.

While he did certainly feel the same, and had told her in rather uncertain terms before, the fact that she had so blatantly told him was a surprise to him. Not only did she just straight up go and say it, but at such a raw emotional time. It felt out of place. While he _had_ been more or less certain that she had some sort of feelings for him. She had been mostly elusive in speaking her affections.

Then again, she was rather prone to speaking her mind. Sometimes. Other times like most of the time that he had known her, she just did what she wanted, and there wasn't much that Robin could do about it. Thinking about it now, he was quite certain that she'd had it out for him since the very beginning.

"What are you thinking about?" Nowi said.

"I'm probably the most lucky man in the world," he said, "I must be dreaming, because I've done a few too many misdeeds to deserve what you're giving me."

Nowi nuzzled into his side, "Well this is a dream you'll never wake up from. I assure you. It is too late to wake up now."

"We'll see."

"No I'm afraid I'm a bit blind at the moment."

Robin leaned down and kissed her again on the forehead.

"Hey!" Vaike shouted, "PDA stands for Public Display of Adultery!"

CRACK.

Vaike slumped over where he sat, and Miriel reopened her tome to study. Where did he even learn that word?

* * *

 **A/N: BWAHAHAHA. Sour and Sweet, my muse giveth and she taketh away. Mostly she taketh though, so this was a nice rare bit of fluffy cuteness my soul needed.**


End file.
